Chapter 64 Zhang Juzheng 3 - The first episode of the Golden Hazel Song

For the first time, Uncle Li played a mysterious role in pretending to be a monster "Mr. Feng is here—" A high-pitched shout passed through the light white mist in the morning, and was transmitted from the avenue in the vast countryside to the square in front of Baiyun Temple, causing a commotion immediately.Previously, there had been a large area of ​​sedan chairs of various colors in black crows, and all the eunuchs in red robes were sitting in the sedan chairs.They came here early in order to meet their master.Hearing the yelling, they all got out of the sedan chair in a hurry, stretched their necks and looked towards the road.In a short time, there was only a rush of horseshoes, and more than twenty horsemen galloped into the square.They all wore round caps, white boots, and round collars with twelve buttons and straight jackets. They could be identified as Dongchang slaves just by their attire.Although the leader Zhang Tie Xing was wearing the uniform of a sixth-rank military officer, his status was still much shorter than those of the Neifu ermines standing on the ground.But he thought he was an official of Dongchang, and he had the special status of being a high-ranking official, so he didn't pay attention to Diao Dang and others. He just cupped his hands in a business-like manner, and said: "The father-in-law came early." Then He ordered his subordinates: "The square is too chaotic, you should keep an eye on some of them."

As soon as the words fell, a long line of imposing guards of honor entered the square.Approaching the mountain gate, I saw the melon-axe flag swiping aside, and the six big golden fans covering the sedan chair parted on both sides, revealing a large warm sedan chair with apricot yellow curtains carried by eight people.Suddenly, the square was so quiet that even the sound of a needle being dropped could be heard, and everyone's eyes were on the big warm sedan chair.A small servant with a delicate face approached and opened the sedan chair curtain. The big guy first heard a soft but dignified cough, and quite a few eunuchs couldn't help shivering. "Inner Prime Minister", the chief eunuch Feng Bao, who was in charge of the chief inspector of ceremonies, bowed out of the sedan chair door.

For today's trip, Feng Bao seems to have put a lot of thought into dressing. He didn't wear an official uniform, but a silk robe made of high-quality lake silk over a close-fitting otter skin jacket, and a pair of lambs on his feet. Leather short leather boots, the studs on the boots are all made of pure gold, instead of the usual brass, and the warm hat on the head is made of pure white fox fur.Although this dress is not official, it looks more elegant and luxurious.Coupled with his well-maintained fair and fat face, and his bossy gestures, people have to be in awe of him.At the moment when he stepped out of the sedan chair, all the ermines knelt down together like a sheep seeing a tiger, a mouse or a cat, and shouted in unison:

"The little ones are waiting for the old man." Feng Bao didn't say a word, he just raised his hand to let the sables flatten their bodies. At this time, a Taoist in Tsing Yi who was standing on the steps shouted into the mountain gate: "Play music—" The Taoist musician who had been waiting for a long time Immediately, the high-stringed strings and high-quality instruments sounded together.More than a dozen small Taoists lit the long poles wrapped in firecrackers in their hands one after another, and they crackled and exploded into darkness.The shock was so great that all the spectators in the square covered their ears.After staying in the solemn university for a long time, Feng Bao was not used to this kind of noisy welcome scene.As soon as the firecrackers went off, he stood there without moving. After the firecrackers were blown and the music stopped, he entered the mountain gate with the Taoist priest Wen Tianhe who was waiting for him.

There are many scenic spots in the suburbs of the capital, too numerous to enumerate.Speaking of Jinan alone, there used to be three major ones: the Cangzhou Lion Jingzhou Pagoda, the Great Bodhisattva in Zhending Mansion, and this is the outer suburbs.The most famous scenic spot in the suburbs is the Baiyun Temple two miles away from Xibian Gate. Baiyun Temple, known as the "Fairy Capital" in Taoism, is the ancestral court of the Longmen Sect of Quanzhen Taoism. This Taoist temple was first built in the Tang Dynasty, named Tianchang Temple, and was used to worship Laozi, the ancestor of Taoism. It has been destroyed many times since then It has been built and destroyed repeatedly, and its reputation is not great.It became famous far and wide after the famous Taoist Qiu Chuji came to run the temple.This Qiu Chuji was the founder of the Longmen sect of Taoism and was regarded as a "god" by Genghis Khan.In the early years of the Yuan Dynasty, it had a great influence in China.After his death, on the nineteenth day of the first month of his birthday, the people of the capital would bring incense paper firecrackers and three animals of wine to Baiyun Temple to offer sacrifices.Over time, it has become a practice, and the nineteenth day of the first lunar month has become the Yanjiu Festival that people in the capital must celebrate.At that time, outside the gate of Baiyun Temple, tents and curtain houses of various colors will be built around the square, and the road will be several miles long.Quanzhen Taoists from all over the country come here to offer sacrifices, hold sacrifices, make elixir, or sell talisman seals, sit on the ground to discuss good and bad luck, and talk about the career of being born in the world. .Amidst this celestial spirit, there are more men and women from the capital flocking to them, flirting and playing, ostentatiously ostentatiously or drinking on the ground, and their momentum continues day and night.There are also thousands of small merchants who come here, selling candied gourds with sticks on their shoulders, steamed cakes with warm fire loads, selling wine and tea, shaking sugar and marinating, everything you expect to find.As for daily necessities, from silk and cloth clothes, a few banquet boxes, to pans, copper tin, antiques, calligraphy and paintings and other trivial things, there are all kinds of things stuffed in the roads, and there are endless sales from morning to night.Therefore, the Yanjiu Festival, which immediately follows the Lantern Festival, made the Youye sound in the capital lively and noisy for several days.After Emperor Yongle moved the capital to Beijing, another content was added to this Yanjiu Festival, that is, the eunuchs in the palace must rush to Baiyun Temple to pay homage every time this day comes.I don't know what year and month some rootless Guidang found out, saying that Qiu Chuji's birthday when he first became a monk was eunuch for Juechen.Therefore, the eunuchs regarded him as the head of the "eunuch gang" of their sect, and paid homage to him every year without being sloppy at all.This year is the second year for Feng Bao to be the eunuch in charge of rites and seals, and it is his duty to lead the chief priest.Compared with previous years, today's scene is extraordinarily well-organized and ostentatious.

Surrounded by Taoist attendants and hundreds of nobles, Feng Bao walked into the majestic Lingxing Gate with seven floors and four pillars.The four characters "Dongtian Shengjing" written on Fang's forehead are written by Emperor Jiajing.From this point of view, it can be divided into three roads: in the middle road there are Lingguan Hall, Yuhuang Hall, Laolu Hall, Qiuzu Hall, Sanqing Pavilion and Siyu Pavilion five-fold main hall, as well as the second floor of the bell and drum, Fengzhen Hall, Confucianism Hall, etc. Xiandian.The main buildings on the East Road are Nanji Hall, Doumu Pavilion and Sutra Library.There are Luzu Hall, Eight Immortals Hall, Yuanjun Hall, Yuanchen Hall, Ancestral Hall and so on on the west road.There is also a huge garden behind the Taoist temple, named Yunji Garden.The small bridges in the garden are floating green, the verandas are full of trees, the pavilions are hidden, the mountains and rivers are lingering, and the charm of immortals is everywhere, so it is also called "Little Penglai".The whole building covers an area of ​​hundreds of acres, and it is uneven and orderly.Today's Baiyun Temple is decorated everywhere.The stone steps are built with jade, and the eaves and teeth are painted with gold; the pavilions of Cuiwei Palace are full of green jade, and the carved walls and painted walls are shining.Such a fairyland in Penglai, a fairyland in the world, is endowed with dragon patterns and tiger veins, and it is full of majesty: Feng Bao, who was standing under the Lingxing Gate, saw these scenes, and immediately felt refreshed, and asked Wen Tianhe who was standing beside him:

"Master Wen, the Tao is spotless, how can the pilgrims come in and worship the gods?" Wen Tianhe replied respectfully: "I would like to report to Mrs. Feng that Pindao has been instructed by Dongchang. During Mr. Feng's observation period, no one else is allowed to enter." Feng Bao smiled slightly, and said, "The Taoist priest knew he was wrong. We mean, if the pilgrims stepped on such a clean Tao, wouldn't it be dirty?" "Oh, that's right." Wen Tianhe's tense mood relaxed a little, and he replied, "There are more than a dozen little Taoist priests in the temple cleaning at any time, so that there will be no filth anywhere."

"That's good, don't ruin the fairyland." Talking and asking, a group of people have already walked across the Wofeng Bridge, passed through the three major halls, and came to the gate of Qiuzu Hall, the fourth major hall on the middle road.As early as a few days ago, Xu Jue informed Taoist Master Wen Tianhe that Feng Bao came from Yunguan to worship Qiuzu this time, and he was not allowed to enter the rest of the halls.Those in the know know immediately that the Empress Dowager Li, the Holy Mother of the Emperor, is dedicated to Buddhism and has nothing to do with Taoism. Feng Bao follows her, not daring to go one step further.This is reasonable, but for Baiyun Temple, it is somewhat regrettable.Qiuzu Hall is five rooms wide and seven couplets deep. It is the most magnificent single-eave Xieshan-style hall in Baiyun Temple.For this sacrificial ceremony, all the Diao Dang jointly donated 5,000 taels of silver to decorate the Baiyun Temple, and Feng Bao alone donated 2,000 taels of silver to decorate the Qiuzu Hall: Looking at it now, you can only see the caisson in the corridor, the cornice and the pillars, all of which are painted. new.The statue of Qiu Zu in the hall was also repainted with gold powder, making it more luxurious and magnificent.When Feng Bao stepped into the hall, he immediately performed Daoist music. All the mink pendants worshiped three times and kowtowed nine times, and all the sacrifices were like rituals.

But Feng Bao knelt on the futon and hadn't got up yet, suddenly he heard a noise from outside the door, two servants helped him up, he aimed at Qiu Zu, and asked: "Who is making noise?" Xu Jue, who came with Feng Bao, was about to send someone out to check, but he saw a black-booted schoolboy from Dongchang rushing to report, saying that there was a crazy Taoist outside the gate of the garden, and he insisted on breaking in. "What kind of person is he?" Feng Bao asked. "I can't tell. He wears a copper ring on his head, which binds his messy hair. He wears a blue cloak and holds a flag pole in his hand. On it are written the words 'walking for the sky'."

Feng Bao frowned when he heard this, and shouted: "This is He Fang Yaodao, let's take him and question him." Before the words were finished, someone outside the door laughed and said: "Mr. Feng, don't ask questions in name, the poor has already come." While talking, I saw a tall figure already dodging to enter the door, standing in front of Feng Bao, waving the flag pole of "Walk the Way for the Heaven".Feng Bao was about to explode when he caught a glimpse of this person's voice and appearance, but he couldn't remember who it was, so he asked suspiciously:

"You are?" The visitor grinned, brushed back the messy hair sticking to his face, and teased: "Mr. Feng, you have flooded the Dragon King Temple, and your family no longer knows your family." Feng Bao took a closer look and turned pale with shock.The person who came was none other than Li Gao, the only son of Li Wei, Marquis of Wuqing, and the uncle of the current Emperor Wanli.He hurriedly said: "Oh, it turned out to be the uncle of the country, looking at the eyes of the old man, it is so incompetent, sinful, sinful!" Qiuzu Hall was not originally a place to receive guests, but fortunately Wen Tianhe had already prepared an elegantly furnished vegetarian room in Yunji Garden.Feng Bao and Li Gao went in, and Wen Tianhe left after arranging refreshments.Feng Bao took a sip of the hot eight-treasure tea and asked: "Uncle Guo, why did you come up with this outfit?" "It's a festival," Li Gao blurted out. Seeing that Feng Bao didn't understand for a moment, he added, "Today is the Yanjiu Festival. With my outfit, do you think I look like Immortal Qiu descending to earth?" Having said that, Feng Baocai suddenly realized.Legend has it that every Yanjiu Festival, Qiu Shenxian will disguise himself and return to Baiyun Temple to save Taoists, and those who are favored by him can follow him to ascend to become immortals in the daytime.The incarnation of Immortal Qiu, be it a poor man, a beggar, a prostitute, or a blind old man, in short, they are all low-ranking people among all living beings in the world: some sons and daughters of rich families in the capital will run to Baiyun Guan came to give alms to these "untouchables". If one happened to meet an incarnation of Qiu Shenxian from among the "untouchables", wouldn't it be a cheap and profitable thing? However, the most willing to give alms is the eunuch of the inner court.Since these people recognized Qiu Zu as the leader of their sect, they naturally thought about how to get lucky, only once a year, so they were generous.Therefore, there are a bunch of rascals who deliberately pretend to be poor and cheat money on this day.Li Gao obviously does not belong to this kind of person. In Feng Bao's view, the reason why he dresses up like this is purely because he is bored and looking for fun, so he dealt with it: "No wonder you forced your way into Baiyun Temple, and the guards dare not stop you, because they are afraid that you are an immortal Qiu, and you can't afford to offend them." Li Gao didn't hear the teasing in Feng Bao's words, and replied with a smile: "Just now outside the Baiyun Guanmen, our outfit really bluffed a lot of people! Look, this is the lucrative money we collected. :" After finishing speaking, he untied the blue cloak, and saw that there was still a girdle on his chest. He untied it and shook it on the ground, and the banknotes, copper plates and broken silver rolled all over the ground. Donated to Baiyun Temple." Seeing Li Gao's insane and insane appearance, Feng Bao was extremely unhappy.Li Gaozi is not a seed for studying. Relying on his sister, Queen Mother Li, he is always a worthless dude who calls for friends and companions to drive eagles and dogs all day long.Now that Emperor Wanli has ascended the throne, his country uncle has become a figure who blows fire in the door of galloping horse dung on his fist, becoming more and more extraordinary.Although Feng Bao didn't like this kind of person, he didn't dare to offend him because of Empress Dowager Li.He didn't know what Li Gao wanted to do when he came in to find him, so he asked instead: "How is your lord Wu Qingbo?" Li Gao shrugged, picked a piece of black and crunchy sesame cake, put it in his mouth, and replied while chewing: "Okay. My heart hurts all the time!" "Ah, why haven't I heard of it?" "Eunuch Feng, you live deep in the palace, where did you hear about it?" "Didn't you ask the doctor to take a look?" "The imperial physicians are all rotten mouths, how can they treat our father's illness." Li Gao spoke without restraint, his voice was louder than splitting dry bamboo, now he coughed, and then said, "Our father's illness , Mr. Feng, you can cure half of it." "We?" Feng Bao couldn't help being startled, he heard something in Li Gao's words, and asked vigilantly, "What's wrong with Uncle Wu Qing?" "Heart disease!" "Oh?" Feng Bao responded, but didn't answer any more.Seeing that he stopped asking, Li Gao poked it out himself: "Mr. Feng, you said that our sister has been promoted to Queen Mother for two years, why can't our father go up from Wuqingbo to Wuqinghou?" After hearing this topic, Feng Bao finally understood the purpose of Li Gao's trip.Regarding this matter, when Empress Dowager Li went to Zhaoning Temple to offer incense in the autumn of the previous year, Wu Qingbo made a request to her in person.Empress Dowager Li was perfunctory at the time, but she didn't follow up later.He once mentioned it to Zhang Juzheng, but for some unknown reason, the Chief Assistant didn't say anything, so he couldn't say anything anymore.Now seeing Li Gao's angry look, he knew that he couldn't avoid it, so he replied: "The canonization is a great gift from the imperial court, and there are many rules and regulations. Your sister, the Queen Mother Li, is the most filial daughter in the world. Why doesn't she want her own father to be a Marquis, but due to the restrictions of etiquette, she can't do it alone. If the Queen Mother doesn't speak, others will How dare you act recklessly." Li Gao felt that these words were not pleasant, but it was inconvenient to attack him.He knew very well that even though he was an uncle of the state, it was even more difficult to enter the palace once.Usually, to send a message to the inner palace, you still have to rely on this inner figure with open hands and eyes, so he swallowed a sigh of relief and said: "Mr. Feng, let me tell you straight. If it wasn't for the fire that forced Wang Xilie to hang himself, my father's Marquis Wu Qing might have already obtained it." "Oh?" Upon hearing the word "fire", Feng Bao's eyelids twitched, "Even if Wang Xilie is alive, he may not be able to accomplish this?" "Why?" ''As a servant of the Ministry of Rites, how much power does he have?" "No matter how powerful the power is, after all, Wang Xilie has been the left servant of the Ministry of Rites for many years. When the court responds to the etiquette, he is very familiar with it. He said that if the routine is not good, it can be an exception. Our sister was originally a noble concubine. Isn't it a special case for the queen to equalize her status? My sister can make a special case, why can't my father make a special case?" "Uncle Guo, you can't compare like this, after all, your sister is the biological mother of the current Holy One." "Don't forget, old man, the holy mother is our father's biological daughter." Li Gao picked up the flag pole of "doing justice for the sky" as he spoke, and slammed the pestle hard on the ground, rolling his eyes and choking: " If our father’s business can’t be done, in our opinion, it’s stuck on one person.” "Who?" "Zhang Juzheng:". Feng Bao's face turned cold immediately, and he said angrily: "Uncle Guo, it's not easy to say this casually. Mr. Zhang, the first assistant, is a minister trusted by the late emperor. Your sister, Empress Dowager Li, relies heavily on him. You speak like this, Wouldn't it make your sister sad?" Li Gao was neither stubborn nor convinced, he just muttered: "The bridal sedan chair is carried by others, and we will carry others when they carry us, and we will not carry others if they do not carry them." Feng Bao didn't want to gossip, so he raised his eyelids, forced a smile and said, "Uncle Guo doesn't need to be angry. I'll wait for the opportunity, and I'll ask the Queen Mother for orders." As he spoke, he meant to see off the guests. Li Gao quickly said: "Don't worry about your mistake, old man. We came all the way here today, not just to make fun of you. We haven't talked about our serious business yet." "Ah, do you have anything else to do?" Feng Baogang raised his buttocks and sat down again, Li Gao looked outside the door and said in a low voice: "Old man, my father wants to do something, let's ask you for advice on how to do it. " "What's the matter?" Feng Bao leaned over. Li Gao looked outside the door, and said mysteriously: "At the end of last year, our father saw a piece of auspicious land in Cangzhou and wanted to build a grave." As soon as Li Gao's words fell, Feng Bao knew what he meant. The current old head of state was going to change his ways to ask the emperor for money.According to the rules of the imperial court, the imperial court can provide appropriate subsidies for the construction of graves for relatives of the emperor.It was not a difficult matter, Feng Bao felt a little relieved and asked: "Wu Qing Bo repaired the grave, how about the chosen land?" "It's a good land. Mr. Feng Shui said that the whole mountain has to be bought. There are a few families on the mountain that have to be moved." Obedient and obedient, Feng Bao knew that Wu Qingbo wanted the lion to open his mouth, so he said: "Most of the Fengshui masters in the rivers and lakes are fools. Wu Qingbo's auspicious places have to be checked by the Qin Tianjian." "Our father said, what should we do, we follow the court's regulations, it's just a matter of spending money..." Li Gao stopped talking here, looked at Feng Bao's face, and continued, "Our father Said, old man, please give our sister a break in advance." "It's easy to handle, I'll talk about it when I get back." Feng Bao agreed without hesitation, and then said with an idea, "Go back and tell Uncle Wu Qing that he will write the paper first and send it to the palace through the clan mansion." "Thank you, old man." After Li Gao had finished talking about his business, he saw people walking around the door, and knowing that Feng Bao would meet with others, he thanked him and said goodbye. The fetal Fu Lu Shou blue and white cup fell to the ground, and the tea stained the ground with a bang. Feng Bao looked at the fragments on the ground, frowned and asked: "Uncle Guo, why is this?" "Picture auspicious, safe and sound year after year!" After saying that, he made a grimace, and left still waving the flag and pole. As soon as he went out, Xu Jue led a person in with his back foot.I saw that this person was wearing a silk-cotton straight gown made of black Western cloth, with goose-yellow python velvet for the quilting. A high-eave bucket pearl crown made of yak tail hair, wearing a pair of ink velvet socks on the feet, and stepping on Suzhou official-style cloth shoes with double thousand-ply soles, and the belt tied around the waist is also made of thick ink color Made of western cloth, with two fine lychee red borders rolled up and down, the pendant on the headband is a chestnut-sized emerald unicorn. This luxurious and refined attire immediately caught Feng Bao's attention: As soon as the visitor entered the door, he lifted the hem of his straight skirt, knelt down cautiously in front of Feng Bao, and sang, "Little Ke Hao Yibiao, kowtow to Mr. Feng." "Get up, I'm an old acquaintance, so what's the point of being polite?" Feng Bao sat on the chair without moving, but with a pleasant smile, he told Xu Jue, "Show Yuanwai the seat." Xu Jue hurriedly led Hao Yibiao to sit on a chair on the lower right of Feng Bao.Even though this Qicaixia boss is the richest man in the capital, and usually has a close relationship with Xu Jue, it is not easy to really want to see Feng Bao.Last year, when I heard that Feng Bao wanted to donate money to repair the Qiu Zu Temple, Hao Yibiao offered to donate two thousand taels of silver on his behalf.Feng Bao received this favor, so he was willing to see him in Baiyun Temple. The host and guest sat down, and the little Taoist came in to make some tea again.Feng Bao took a sip, looked at Hao Yibiao who was all dressed up, and asked: "Hao Yuanwai, what kind of fabric is your straight suit made of?" "Western cloth." Hao Yibiao replied respectfully. "Where did it come from?" "I heard that it came from Persia, but whether it is made in Persia or not, Xiao Ke can't verify for a while." "Well, Persia, how far away is it!" Feng Bao said with admiration, and then said thoughtfully, "The bird cloth of the Japanese country and the horsetail cloth of the Korean country are of good quality. As the saying goes, Su Song Hang Jia Sifu clothes are all over the world, why can’t they produce such good cloth.” "Each country has its own products, and even though the island of Yi is a small country, it also has rare treasures." Hao Yibiao answered in the tone of an expert. Feng Bao smiled, and said again: "The last autumn, Empress Dowager Li chose seven or eight kinds of cloth patterns of your Qicaixia, and she was very satisfied. Now, do you have new ones?" "Yes, there are, but I don't know what the Queen Mother likes." "Another day, you send all kinds of new fabrics to the palace, and let Empress Dowager Li choose them herself." "Xiao Ke will follow my orders." Speaking of this, Feng Bao looked at Hao Yibiao's clothes again, and asked, "How much is a piece of your western cloth worth?" "Fifty taels of silver." "So expensive?" Hao Yibiao faced a difficult question as to how to answer this question: since the imperial court had banned private trade with foreign countries.In the Jiajing Dynasty, because pirates were rampant on the southeast coast, Japanese pirates often came to invade. They not only plundered ships at sea, killed people and robbed goods, but also repeatedly landed and harassed, and even attacked cities and villages, causing severe damage.Emperor Jiajing issued an edict to implement the most severe sea ban.Anyone who dared to do business with Japanese pirates, once found out, not only all the goods were confiscated and burned, but the person involved himself was sentenced to a severe punishment, and the whole family was exiled.After the Longqing Dynasty, although the sea ban was slightly loosened, maritime trade was still prohibited.Some businessmen are driven by profit, and sometimes they still secretly go to sea to do business.In this way, he faces double danger: one is the investigation by the government, and the other is robbery by pirates.As long as one of these two cases meets, it will immediately lead to death.However, it is the nature of businessmen to make money and seek profits. No one does business that loses money. As long as they can make a lot of money, there are still many people who are willing to risk their heads.Hao Yibiao belongs to the latter.He has been operating private goods trading in the offshore areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang for four or five years.In order to deal with pirates, he recruited a group of strong men who were not afraid of death to serve as merchant ship guards. In order to land the goods smoothly, he bought a large number of officials from Linhai prefecture and county, and opened up all the joints.After Longqing, the atmosphere of competing for splendor and glitz in the northern and southern capitals intensified.The various foreign fabrics that Hao Yibiao brought back from the sea were always in short supply.Hearing that Empress Dowager Li also wore Qicaixia's "Woben cloth", Hao Yibiao's business became more and more prosperous.Even though his business is a one-off price, one piece of cloth is ridiculously expensive, and there is never a time when it is unsalable.At this moment, the word "expensive" popped out of Feng Bao's mouth, and his eyelids twitched.Holding his breath for a while, he thought he had thought it through, and then carefully answered: "Western cloth is all brought back from the sea, which is risky and expensive." Feng Bao has known for a long time that Hao Yibiao has made a fortune from smuggling at sea, and as a protective umbrella, he has also benefited a lot from it.But he was worried that Hao Yibiao would be too arrogant and cause trouble, so he wanted to take the opportunity to beat him, he moved his body, and said with a straight face: "Mr. Hao, although your western cloth and bird cloth are of high quality, they came from a wrong path. If you investigate them carefully, you may be involved. You also know that the imperial court has never lifted the sea ban." Hao Yibiao suddenly broke out in cold sweat on his forehead. It was inappropriate to say anything at this time, he was stunned for a moment, and only responded obediently: "Xiao Ke's business is all thanks to Eunuch Feng's support." "Don't we support you to have today?" Feng Bao muttered in his heart, but said in his mouth: "You have to understand that a pig's mouth can be tied, but a human mouth can't be tied!" "What Eunuch Feng said is very true," Hao Yibiao put on a calm look, and asked for advice, "Xiao Ke is thinking about something, I don't know whether to ask it or not." "Let's talk:" "Eunuch Feng is the emperor's great companion and has won the trust of the queen mother. Why don't you suggest to the emperor to cancel the sea ban altogether." "Picking up a lamp grass, it's easy to say," Feng Bao pursed his mouth, disapprovingly said, "The sea ban is a great law of the imperial court, how can it be easily changed. Besides, what's wrong with the sea ban being outside of you, member Hao?" "This……" Hao Yibiao couldn't understand the meaning of the words, he was at a loss for words for a moment.Feng Bao squinted at him and said with a smile: "As soon as the sea ban is lifted, merchants will swarm to the sea. I'm afraid that from now on, your western cloth of fifty taels of silver will be as cheap as radish and cabbage." "Father-in-law is still far-sighted," Hao Yibiao understood that Feng Bao's heart was still toward him, so he said flatteringly, "Thank you for taking care of your father-in-law for letting Xiaoke do this unique business." Xu Jue, who had been by his side all the time, interjected at this moment: "Old Hao, you can start a business alone, but you can't eat alone." "Naturally, no matter how worried Hao is, he would not dare to lose the filial piety of Mr. Feng. A gentleman loves money, and it is the most reasonable way to get it." "It's good that you understand this principle," Feng Bao looked at his neatly manicured nails gracefully, and said happily, "Don't be like those philistines. Seeing some money is like a fly seeing blood." "My father-in-law's teaching, Hao will always remember it," Hao Yibiao said, and glanced at Xu Jue, seeing that Xu Jue was encouraging, he bravely said, "Eunuch Feng, I still have something to ask." Feng Bao raised his chin to signal Hao Yibiao to speak. Hao Yibiao said: "Xiao Ke heard that every March, the tribute ship from the Nanjing shad factory will be shipped to Beijing via the canal. Moreover, the tribute ship is under the supervision and administration of Da Nei Shangshan, and the local officials cannot interfere." Feng Bao smiled slightly, and said: "Hey, you already figured it out, what's your plan?" "The villain wants to carry some cargo on this tribute boat." "What cargo?" "Silk and satin materials purchased in Suzhou and Hangzhou." "Hao Yuanwai is playing tricks on us again, let's be blunt, did you get some treasures from the sea again?" "Yes... yes." Hao Yibiao smiled awkwardly. Feng Bao heard from Xu Jue that last year, Zhang Juzheng sent a letter to Wang Zhuan, Governor of Water Transportation, to help Hao Yibiao get two water boats, and transported many private goods at sea to Beijing.It should be noted that the tank boats and the inner court tribute ships are transported from Nanjing to Zhangjiawan in Tongzhou Prefecture, Beijing. The government and customs offices along the way have no right to inspect them. If they come down, they will pay less tax, not to mention the savings. How many facilitation payments and various blackmails.How could Feng Bao not know the benefits of this, so he asked: "Last year, Mr. Shoufu Mr. Zhang helped you get two boats. Why didn't you go to him this year?" Hearing Feng Bao's tone seemed to contain a trace of jealousy, Hao Yibiao quickly defended: "Master Shoufu helped Xiao Ke get two boats last year, but he made it clear that this was in return for me buying pepper sumac for him last autumn. Let’s not take this as an example.” "Does Mr. Zhang know what you are transporting?" "I told him it was Suzhou and Hangzhou satin." "There are only three tribute boats from the Nanjing shad factory, and they are all fully loaded. How can they carry goods?" "Eunuch Feng, you only need to send a message, and you can pick all the stars from the sky, so why do you care about a few tribute boats:" "Let's discuss this matter later," Feng Bao stretched his waist and asked Xu Jue, "When we came, we saw tents set up for several miles outside the mountain gate, all of them were selling goods?" "Yes," Xu Jue sneered slightly while sitting upright, and replied with a smile, "All the merchants in the capital came here to take advantage of Yan Jiu." "Is there an antique stall?" "Have." "Come on, let's go and have a look, Yuanwai Hao, shall we go together?" "Okay," said Hao Yibiao, leaving his seat, stroking the emerald unicorn dangling around his waist with his hand, and said courteously, "I saw those antique stalls when I came here, and there were also some Xia Yi business tripods. ．Calligraphy and paintings of famous people in Tang and Song Dynasties, I just don’t know whether they are real or not, Mr. Feng is a great expert, you go to appraise them, if you come across a few pieces, you can take them all, regardless of the price, you can pay for it.” "Hao Yuanwai is so generous!" "Old man, don't talk outside the box, money is something outside of the body." As the three of them said this, they already stepped out.Just as he was about to call Taoist Wen Tianhe to bid farewell, he suddenly saw a person running into the Yunji Garden.I saw that this man was about thirty or so years old, wearing a black five-grade men's suit with a small python facing the sky, and a squirrel leather carapace over his coat. Qi.Feng Bao took a closer look and said in surprise: "Isn't this Sun Long? Why did he come here?" While speaking, Sun Long was already out of breath and ran to Feng Bao, knelt down on his knees, and said: "Slave Sun Long, please see my old man." At this moment in the Yunji Garden, there were still many eunuchs playing around, Sun Long's flustered appearance attracted their attention, and the garden suddenly became quiet.But this Sun Long is also a newcomer among the eunuchs. Before entering the palace, he studied in a private school for two years, and studied in the inner school for three years. There are many hobbies in antique calligraphy and painting, so Feng Bao appreciates them very much.However, due to his young age and lack of seniority, Meng Chong could not be reused in the hands of Meng Chong. He only worked as a treasurer in the T-shaped library of the Inner Prison Treasury. Non-stick errands.But Sun Long was very clever. On that day, he took advantage of the opportunity to deliver the paper to Feng Bao's value room, took out a folding fan from his arms, handed it to Feng Bao with both hands, and said: "I found a fan, please Feng Bao. Appreciate it, old man." Feng Bao took it and saw that it was a very old yellow Luo fan.There were cracks in two of the fan bones, and the luster of Huang Luo had also faded, with a few small red spots accumulated.There is a poem written on the fan: "When the style is getting old, you will see the shame of spring, and you will feel the old travel everywhere. Thank you for the long strips that seem to know each other, and the strong smoke blows over people's heads."Signed two words: Li Yu.Feng Bao was shocked when he saw it, and asked, "Is this from the Empress Li of the Southern Tang Dynasty?" Sun Long replied, "I'm not sure, but it was recorded in the Song people's notes. This fan is called Qingnu Huangluo fan. It was given by Empress Li to the court lady Qingnu. During the Song Dynasty, this fan fell in Bianliang, Tokyo, and was also collected by nobles in the inner court." Feng Bao looked at the folding fan carefully again, and said: "This is Empress Li's. The original, how did you get it?” “The servant cleaned up the treasury that day and found this. Since then, I have searched all the books and found no registration. It is an unowned object, so I brought it here. Next." Feng Bao couldn't put it down, and he accepted it without refusing when he heard it.After a while, he found out that this Qingnu Huangluo fan was not an old item in the palace, but Sun Long bought it from the antique market for twenty taels of silver: for a small servant, I am afraid that it would be too expensive to collect all his savings. It was very difficult to collect enough twenty taels of silver, Feng Bao didn't say anything, but he was impressed by Sun Long in his heart.He was not interested in the mere twenty taels of silver, but in Sun Long's filial piety.After he replaced Meng Chong as the supervisor of ceremonies, he was determined to find a first-class job for Sun Long.Years ago, Feng Baozuo, Emperor Ming, withdrew the eunuch who was in charge of the Hangzhou Weaving Bureau in charge of the inner court, and recommended Sun Long to take over.There are three weaving bureaus in the inner court, one in Suzhou, one in Songjiang, and one in Hangzhou, the largest in Hangzhou.These three weaving bureaus were in charge of the supply of silk cloth for the inner court, from the empress and concubines down to the clothes used by the handmaid Huo Zhe and the satin and silk used as rewards by the emperor.The customs and defenses given by the Weaving Bureau all have the word "imperial envoy".Therefore, when local officials see them, no matter how high your rank is, they all shrink their necks to avoid the horse and give up the sedan chair.Sun Long got this good job, and he was very grateful to Feng Bao.After the Lantern Festival, he went to Feng Bao's mansion to bid farewell, saying that he chose the day of Yanjiu Festival to leave for Hangzhou to take up his post.It stands to reason that he should have arrived at the Zhangjiawan Canal Wharf at this moment, but for some reason he suddenly appeared in Baiyun Temple. Feng Bao let Sun Longping die, and then asked him: "Didn't you leave today, why did you come here again?" Sun Long was still out of breath, and replied with a mournful face, "I want to report to my old man, the slave has encountered a little trouble." "What trouble?" "The Ministry of Industry refused to transfer the document." "Ah, is there such a thing?" Feng Bao's narrowed eyes suddenly opened wide, and he stared at Sun Long in a daze. However, although the three weaving bureaus of Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Songjiang are under the jurisdiction of the inner court, they have different responsibilities.Hangzhou Weaving Bureau mainly manufactures "Dragon Clothes" for the emperor.The emperor's ordinary clothes, the royal clothes, the sacrificial crowns, etc., have to be purchased every year. "Dragon clothes" are expensive to make, and only a set of uniforms costs more than 10,000 taels of silver.This time Sun Long took office, according to Feng Bao's instruction, he submitted a production list, there were more than 20 sets of uniforms of various textures, plus other items, it cost a total of 800,000 taels of silver.The little emperor didn't delve too deeply into it, and still issued the decree.It has always been a rule that the three inner court weaving bureaus use silver, half of which is paid by the royal family, and the other half is allocated by the Ministry of Industry.Therefore, the annual silver plan of the Weaving Bureau must be discussed with the Ministry of Industry in the Inner Court before it is reported to the emperor.This time, Sun Long asked for the holy will first, and then notified the Ministry of Works. This practice has caused extreme dissatisfaction in the Ministry of Works.In addition, the requested silver was ridiculously high, more than half of the 400,000 taels of silver that Emperor Longqing used to spend each year, so the Ministry of Industry refused to change the document.Although the Weaving Bureau is an imperial envoy, the local state government only recognizes the transfer of the Ministry of Industry in order to cooperate with this project.Sun Long relied on the holy decree, and thought that the transfer of documents by the Ministry of Industry was a sure thing, but he didn't know that he entered the yamen of the Ministry of Industry yesterday, but he had a bad nose. After listening to Sun Long's statement, Feng Bao felt that it was a mistake not to discuss with the Ministry of Industry in advance.In fact, this "mistake" was done on purpose by him.It's not that he doesn't know the rules and regulations, but he wants to increase the power of the supervisor of ceremonies, and intends to use this matter as a test. "Ministry of Industry, who did you see?" Feng Bao asked. "Chairman Zhu Heng." Sun Long replied. "This old shit." Feng Bao cursed in his heart, and then asked, "He disagreed with the transfer, what did he say?" “这老倔头态度傲慢，根本不和我细说缘由，只是说他就此事有奏本给皇上。” “这样的大事，为何昨天不来见咱?”冯保一下子恼了。 “昨天，奴才在工部守到天黑。” “你真他娘的熊包!”冯保恶狠狠骂了一句，再也没有了逛骨董摊儿的雅兴，一跺脚吩咐道：“备轿，回宫!”