These letters and Shen had thought of being burned, the bright road of his life had been paved, and exploring those past could only make him fall into the abyss of no return. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 But with a strong curiosity about his life experience, the mother he had never met, made him hide these letters under the bed again, and in the dead of night he took them out and studied them word by word. He Shen is loyal to the state on the surface, but the torment inside is not known.

The wood is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will destroy it. The young He Shen only relied on his enthusiasm and Qianlong's favor, but he could not show his ambitions. His hard work must have touched the bottom line of the interest groups in the court, and at this time, He Shen was far from exercising his later sleek political skills, and the most important thing was that he did not have his own team.

In the forty-third year of Qianlong, He Shen, who often exhorted himself as a lonely minister, encountered a new crisis. Just as the various forces in the harem united to kill his mother, the various court forces also rarely united together, whether it was Ah Gui and Fukangan in the Manchus, or Yu Minzhong and Liang Guozhi in the Han people, they jointly carried out an isolation policy against He Shen. As long as He Shen arrived at the Military Aircraft Department, these people would go back to their direct management yamen office with the documents, which means that we can't choose whether to be ministers in the same hall, but we can choose to work in different rooms.

After two months in this way, Qianlong was supervised by the imperial historian, hoping to restore the etiquette of the Minister of Military Aircraft and the Office of the Government. Make the rejection of Heshen by the ministers of military aircraft public. At this time, Qianlong realized that he had promoted He Shen too quickly, and He Shen had become the target of public criticism, and after thinking about it, he had to find a reason to demote He Shen's official position by two levels, and reappointed him as the tax director of Chongwenmen, retaining the title of Minister of Military Aircraft, but no longer on duty in the military aircraft.

He Shen's demotion made him a little disheartened, and he appreciated Qianlong's compromise and the darkness of court politics. And at this time, he unexpectedly saw Lian Chenghai, a master of the world who was admired by cloth merchant Wang Rulong. What He Shen and Lian Chenghai talked about, we don't know now, but He Shen has not been able to express his heart directly since he was a child, but in front of Lian Chenghai, he can open his heart without scruples. Because Lian Chenghai knew everything about He Shen, and even He Shen faintly felt that this man who looked rough but spoke elegantly, was indifferent on the outside but enthusiastic on the inside, and didn't say much but in a word, even calculated his foothold at every step and calculated his future.

The meeting with Lian Chenghai made He Shen come out of his hesitation and helplessness, he no longer cared about the cynicism and falling stones above the court, even if there were stormy waves, I would not move. Another big change was that he no longer focused on trivial matters, but instead focused on the study of Qianlong. Study his character, study his preferences, study his habits, study his perspective on problems, and the means to solve problems.

He Shen felt that Lian Chenghai was right, the world is the world of the Son of Heaven alone, but the Son of Heaven is a man, not a god, and seeking the country for the ministers but not for the king, disaster is not far away. The empire under the rule of Qianlong is beautiful on the surface, but it has been defeated on the inside, so there is the intrigue of various forces in the court, and the civil and military forces in the court are harming the public and private interests. Don't wade into troubled waters, don't know the depth of the water, have the trust and love of the emperor, and don't care about the slander and blows of the courtiers.

Lian Chenghai felt that He Shen's demotion was only temporary, and there would soon be new opportunities, before the opportunity came, how to be satisfied with the emperor, how to take the emperor's black pot on his own initiative, is the way to be a minister, as for saving the people from fire and water, Kuang Fu Sheji, and upholding etiquette and righteousness, these things should be considered by the emperor.

Thinking of his mother's death, and thinking of the forces in the court that put him to death, He Shen suddenly had the feeling of waking up from a big dream, and he also understood what he was going to do next. But what surprised He Shen even more was that when he said goodbye to Lian Chenghai, Lian Chenghai said meaningfully: "Qianlong's trust can only be a momentum, not a success." Your identity is special, it is best to be a rich man for the rest of your life, if you can't let go, you have to think about one thing, remember, there is no natural corrupt official, sometimes being a corrupt official is for self-preservation, in order to express to the emperor that he has no thoughts about power. When you figure it out for yourself, you'll have a powerful boost. ”

This is probably the most special interpretation of corrupt officials that He Shen has heard, but what does Lian Chenghai mean when he says help?

A year later, as Lian Chenghai said, Qianlong used Heshen again. And this time, he was directly made a minister and went to Yunnan to investigate and deal with the corruption case of Li Shiyao, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou. Before, He Shen entered the military aircraft, with a strong color of government affairs learning, but no matter how hard he worked, he couldn't make any political achievements. But this time the case was released to investigate, the nature is different, the case was handled beautifully, it is a real political achievement, with this political achievement, He Shen can establish his own status in the court, and through the investigation of the case, he can also encircle his own contacts, which can be said to be an important turning point in his life.

From Beijing to Yunnan, even if you go fast, it will take two or three months. He Shen has no old friends in the officialdom, and there is a lot less entertainment along the way, and it is much easier. On the road, I can only look at the file of Li Shiyao's case, but the more I look at He Shen, the more confident I feel in my heart. Before He Shen, he had already gone to three Qin cha, including the imperial history of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Lang officials who were transferred by the Ministry of Officials, all of whom were famous for their ability and ability, which shows that Qianlong attached great importance to this case.

But those three searched in Yunnan for half a year and found nothing. Thinking about the reason is simple, Li Shuyao has been in the governorship of Yunnan and Guizhou for five years, and most of the figures in Yunnan officialdom are his relatives and old friends, forming a solid community of interests, and everyone is not clean in their hands, this traitor not only can't ask for glory, but will fold himself in. So naturally ironclad, there is no way to check.

However, Li Shuyao really engaged in corrupt behavior, and he is an old man in the officialdom who has gone through storms and storms for several decades, so naturally he is very hidden, and there is no insider, and there is no tangible evidence, so how can he be brought down? Think about himself, first, he has no experience in investigating cases, second, he has no satisfactory helpers, and third, he has no friends in the officialdom, how can this be done? Thinking about Qianlong's advice to himself before he set out, Qianlong was afraid that Li Shuyao had huge influence in Yunnan, held great military and political power, and was suspected of having a big tail, and the key was that he was still a Hanchen, and Qianlong was not at ease. As for the accusations of corruption, they may be false, so how can we investigate this? This time, He Shen really understood how correct Lian Chenghai was when he said that Qianlong's trust could only be used as a momentum and could not be accomplished.

He Shen was worried and went to Guizhou. When he was resting in the Zunyi Mansion, his subordinates presented a greeting post, saying that there was a person outside who claimed to be an old friend of He Shen and called Lian Chenghai to visit. Lian Chenghai's appearance surprised He Shen very much, and he keenly felt that Lian Chenghai must have the key to open the gate of Yunnan in his hand.

Lian Chenghai looked much older than he did more than a year ago, and his originally burly figure was a little hunched. But his personality is still straightforward, and he didn't say a word when he met, so he told He Shen straightforwardly that his true identity was a hall master of the Heaven and Earth Society, and he came to bring two important gifts to He Shen this time. But there is a prerequisite, that is, He Shen must make a bloody alliance with the Heaven and Earth Society and help the Heaven and Earth Society accomplish one thing.

Listening to Lian Chenghai's opening remarks, He Shen was shocked, although he also felt that Lian Chenghai was secretive and seemed to be deliberately concealing his identity, but in any case, he never thought that he was actually a member of the Heaven and Earth Society. Reason told him, what's the use of flying Huang Tengda, it has something to do with heaven and earth, sooner or later, the east window incident will happen, and the result will be full of beheadings, but for some reason, there is a surprise in his heart that he suddenly saw light in the darkness, as if he has been looking forward to the arrival of this day.

He Shen pondered for a long time and finally opened his mouth, but to Lian Chenghai's surprise, He Shen didn't care about the gift he brought to turn things around, nor did he ask what Heaven and Earth would let him accomplish. Instead, he asked, "Is Xiao Yulan also a member of the Heaven and Earth Society?"

Speaking of Xiao Yulan, Lian Chenghai's expression darkened suddenly, he shook his head and said: "I just used the troupe to hide my true identity, there were people from our Heaven and Earth Society in the troupe back then, but Xiao Yulan and Wu Jingchu were not, and they didn't know my identity." But Wu Jingchu and I did grow up together since childhood, and we are like flesh and blood, and I regard Xiao Yulan as my daughter. ”

"Back then, with the eyeliner of our Heaven and Earth Association in the palace, I didn't fail to secretly rescue Xiao Yulan, but unfortunately at that time, I only had the great cause of opposing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty in my heart. Unexpectedly, Xiao Yulan was deeply involved in the harem battle, those people took risks, and they were determined to get rid of the future, and when I got the news and wanted to save it, it was too late. I had to snatch out all the manuscripts and letters of Xiao Yulan before her death, hoping to give them to you in the future. ”

He Shen looked at Lian Chenghai expressionlessly and didn't speak for a long time. After a stick of incense, he said in a low voice: "Mr. Lian, tell me about your gifts and conditions, I can't answer you whether you succeed or not, but you can believe me, after the matter is done, after returning to Beijing to restore the purpose, I will do one thing, and after I finish it, I will reply to you with the result." ”

Lian Chenghai nodded, sighing that in the past year, He Shen has taken retreat as advance, and his wrist to capture the past has become more and more mature, but his heart has finally calmed down a lot, and it seems that the seeds planted in He Shen's heart before have taken root and sprouted.

(Heaven and earth are unkind, and all things are used as dogs; saints are unkind, and the people are dogs.) Between heaven and earth, it is still empty and unyielding, moving and out. It is better to keep in the middle than to hear more and be poor. --Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching)