In December of the first year of Chongzhen, after a dry and rainless summer, it was a winter when the weather was cold and cold. The only light snow that had come down in the winter to make people feel happy, under the eaves of each house, melted and formed an ice skate, like an upside-down sword, the length of which radiated a miserable white light in the rising sun, making people worry that it would fall at any time and pierce the innocent people walking below.

A few naughty boys had a playful heart, poked them with sticks, then picked them up, put them in their mouths and chewed them with a clatter, and let out innocent laughter, bringing a touch of vitality to this dilapidated and dirty city of Beijing.

On the particularly cold streets, the soldiers of the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division can pull a few truckloads of frozen refugees to go to the Xishan Furnace every morning, and then dump their ashes in the field casually. Perhaps, next year, this field will be more fertile.

Most of these refugees who froze to death came from the northwest.

The drought in the northwest has been taking place since the fifth year of the Apocalypse, and according to these displaced people, it has not rained for two years in Ansai, Yulin. The new emperor's accession to the throne did not move the heavens and the earth and alleviate the disaster, but on the contrary, in order to show merit to the new emperor, officials from all over the country concealed the disaster, not only did not give relief or reduce taxes, but increased money and food, and urged the original arrears. Natural and man-made disasters are being brutally staged in the northwest.

Such natural and man-made disasters made the people in the northwest, whether they had land or not, have no choice but to drag their families and bring their mouths, regardless of the interception of local officials and cool officials, and go through a lot of hardships to come to the imperial capital at the feet of the Son of Heaven to find a way to live.

In the end, they did not survive, and died of starvation on the streets of Zhumen.

Dodging a carriage pulling the corpse, Zhao Xing wore a flying fish suit, straddled the embroidered spring knife, and lowered his head into the door of the cross-bridge restaurant.

According to the meal, he came early, and there were no diners in the restaurant. Glancing at the busy guys, the shopkeeper who was stuffy and settling accounts inside, the guys nodded and greeted Lord Zhao early, and Zhao Xing smiled and nodded in return. The shopkeeper just nodded lukewarmly at Zhao Xing as a greeting, still maintaining his and Zhao Xing's inseparability.

Zhao Xing is an easy-going person, while greeting everyone, he walked to the exclusive table in the corner where he belonged to the brocade guard, and then leaned the embroidered spring knife on the edge of the table, sat on the chair, and nodded to Xiufen who brought the tea: "Thank you." Then, he began his duty as a brocade guard for a day.

The pretty and free Xiufen generously poured tea for Zhao Xing, and then said with a smile: "You drink to warm up your body first, and call me when it's cold." Then he smiled at Zhao Xing, and went to prepare for the opening.

Zhao Xing drank hot tea, squinted his eyes and looked at the situation in the lobby, and started such a dull and boring job after crossing over two years ago.

Zhao Xing is the little banner of Jinyiwei, this position is in accordance with the rules, inheriting the cheap father of this era when he passed away. Because it is the position of succession, it is not allowed to treat the total number of hundreds of households, and there is no real power in Jinyiwei, let alone the distribution of subordinate wrestlers, so Zhao Xing is allowed to be a lieutenant to do the work of the shift.

Sitting on duty is the least entitled in Jinyiwei, because of the single goal, the yamen that was arranged, and the shops above the middle level are all familiar with it, and it is not easy to blackmail them.

Besides, let go of the yamen, these days, the sale of shops above the middle level, except for this one, almost all have the support of the official gentry family, and a low-level brocade guard really can't afford to offend.

Therefore, Zhao Xing's current status is not as good as the kind of wrestler who can find some extortion money on the street. Just sit here every day, drinking tea boringly, monitoring the movements of merchants from the south to the north in this restaurant, and listening to their taboo words.

Of course, according to Zhao Xing's temperament, the above doesn't care about himself, and there is no need to be responsible for the above, if he hurts a person and makes a little extra money, there is no need to do such a bad thing. As long as I pay a fixed amount of money for this restaurant every month, it will be too peaceful, and the life is very leisurely.

In particular, Zhao Xing adheres to the temperament of a spectator, in line with the principle of being kind to others, and does not take this good opportunity to extort a sum of money from the store at any time, fatten his own pocket and make a fortune, but helps the store from time to time to drive away those ruffians who collect shares, so that he has won the favor of the shopkeeper.

But the so-called store is just two people, one is the shopkeeper in his fifties, who is standing behind the counter and crackling and calculating, and the other is the daughter Xiufen who is the pungent conductor of the guys, who is busy inside and out.

For this restaurant that is okay to operate, Zhao Xing just keeps his duty, as long as he gives himself a lunch at noon, a pot of bad wine, and does not let himself come out to work and bring his own box lunch.

At this time, Chongzhen was still eating Wei Zhongxian, who was forced to hang himself by him, and the finances were not yet embarrassed to the point that he could not give his pro-army brocade guards a fortune. Coupled with the wild food of Jinyi Weihu and the fake tiger, there is no shortage of monthly income, and there is also an equal share of the income according to the level, Zhao Xing is satisfied. is a mother, a little sister, and a milk dog picked up by a younger sister, and it doesn't cost much. In addition, the old lady is strong and does not want to become a person scolded by everyone, so the burden is not heavy.

Before the restaurant was seated, there were no secrets or ill-intentioned people. Of course, even if there are ill-intentioned people, no one will say it in front of this plague god, and everyone is not stupid.

Zhao Xing held the teacup, crossed Erlang's legs through the open door, looked at the increasingly dense flow of people on the street outside the door, watched the camel guests coming in from outside the Zhengyang Gate passed in front of the door, listened to the melodious and crisp camel bells, and tasted the slow pace of ancient life.

About an hour later, a crowd of diners began to come to the door. Zhao Xing was drinking tea, the door was dark, and he commanded with a big grin: "Little guys, wait outside the door, take out the majesty of our Beijing Division, and see the sons and daughters of Xungui, no matter what reason you find, just beat it, don't lose face." ”

Gao Sheng looked up at this guest, hurriedly dropped the abacus in his hand, trotted over, hit a thousand on one leg, and greeted this guest who claimed to be the first gentleman in Beijing, and greeted with a flattering smile: "Hello Shizi, today-"

The gentleman said with a big grin: "Get up, old rule, come up at noon, and after eating, deduct from the silver I have stored here." ”

Gao Sheng nodded again and again: "The little one knows, the little one knows." ”

Zhao Xing smiled helplessly, the one who is actually the most disciplined and difficult in the capital, the self-styled first gentleman is here again today.

Sure enough, he walked directly in front of Zhao Xing without stopping, pulled away the chair opposite, and sat down, making the chair under his ass squeak in pain. Zhang Zhi, the first British prince in the capital, didn't care, seemed to enjoy this weight and voice very much, and deliberately twisted his butt a few times to make himself sit more comfortable, making the chair under his butt more painful After moaning, he lay directly on the table, holding his fat cheeks with his hands, and looked at Zhao Xing's unfazed eyes in a daze, and after a while, he suddenly screamed: "Ha, Brother Xing, your good days are over, you are unlucky." ”

Zhao Xing was not surprised at all by this shock, but still squinted his eyes and said lightly: "I didn't find other noble children to fight today, but I came to talk about the good or bad of life." I really suspect that you and your father played a self-defiling trick for the emperor, and you are too fake. Say, what's the inside information? Then without waiting for the fat man to speak, he pointed to the eye-catching four big words on the wall with his chin "Don't talk about state affairs": "Although your identity is different, it's better not to talk about the things in the palace and the barracks." Otherwise, I, the royal pro-army brocade guard, will have to take people responsibly. ”

The little fat man snorted again: "Come on, my father is a British duke, and I am a Beijing garrison-"

"It's a temporary job." Zhao Xing scolded him lightly.

The little fat man pouted, "The temporary post is also a guard, and it is also higher than you in the sky and on the ground." The little fat man replied, then took the hot tea sent by Xiufen, and said thank you to Zhao Xingxue casually, and then continued to squeeze Zhao Xing: "You say, you are an unpopular little flag, you have no subordinates, a bare pole, how dare you take me?" ”

Zhao Xing replied calmly: "Jinyi Guard, in charge of the guards, the eyes and ears of the Son of Heaven, has the right to patrol and arrest, and is a third-level official." According to this calculation, now that I am facing you, I am already the commander of the Beijing camp, do you think I can arrest you? ”

The little fat man choked and almost vomited blood.

Not to mention, people are right. Although the rights of Jinyiwei are not as arrogant as in Wei Zhongxian's time, the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse, except for those who are really upright, they really dare to take it. Now the Ming Dynasty went up to the military generals of Wenchen and down to the pawns of the peddlers, and when he saw Jinyiwei, it was like seeing a mouse like a cat, and he heard their unique sentence: "Jinyiwei is on an errand." "I immediately wanted to find a hole in the ground and get in.

The little fat man was not lightly scolded, but then he laughed happily: "Okay, brother, I will bear you again today." But you remember, just one day. Hurry up tomorrow, haha, you don't dare to be rude in front of me anymore. ”

Hearing this, he was a little interested in Zhao Xing: "Why, the British prince who has the skill of the dragon, in order to prevent his precious son from being angry with me, a little Jinyiwei Xiaoqi, removed my Jinyiwei errand?" Then he smiled faintly, moved his buttocks, made himself sit more comfortable, smiled at Xiufen who came to pour water, and continued to scold him: "Isn't it a dignified British duke, and a small flag to vomit, doesn't his old man feel ashamed?" ”

The little fat man knocked on the table happily and proudly, almost overturning Xiufen's tea, and laughed with his fat buttocks: "Thank you, thank you, I'm sorry Sister Xiufen." Not only did you be abolished, but even the eunuchs from all over the country, the Jinyi Guard, and the Jinyi Weidong Factory were also abolished, wait for tomorrow, tomorrow you will be a cloth-clothed civilian. Then he held his little shoulders even more proudly, and laughed like a rattle.

The little fat man is the only son of the British prince in the world, for their sister and brother, after the death of the old wife, the old prince did not continue the string, did not take a concubine, for fear that their sister and brother were wronged, baby. The news he said couldn't be wrong. His voice was so loud that everyone in the store was stunned for a moment, and then he quietly let out a sigh of mixed feelings.

Jin Yiwei, with the increasing weight of authority, there are several generations of commanders, so their reputation is stinky, but to explain, it is stinky in the ranks of literati and officials.

For example, this Zhao Xing is on duty, which is not the plague god of the place where he is on duty, it doesn't matter if he answers correctly, if there is no red envelope from time to time, it is the beginning of the disaster.

However, Jin Yiwei's real reputation, in the hearts of the people and among the people, is not as bad as depicted in later film and television dramas. The reason is that Jinyiwei rarely takes the people who have no oil and water to get by.

They mainly deal with officials and merchants who are attached to the official family and cannot pay for it. I don't dare to say that the future generations, but at least in this era, corrupt officials and cool officials abound, and all the officials of the Ming Dynasty, including those who claim to be gentlemen, all of them were killed, and it is estimated that only one or two were wronged. It is precisely because of this that they are also the mortal enemies of the people.

The people are incapable of dealing with corrupt officials and cruel officials, but they are happy to see those who oppress them being cleaned up by the brocade guards, which is a state of mind.

And a low-level Jinyi guard like Zhao Xing plays a role in appeasing the market, for example, a medium-sized hotel tea house, or what kind of business, except for those who are backed by the background of the Shiyi family, they are the objects of oppression by local ruffians and corrupt officials and cool officials.

This is the reputation of Jinyiwei among the people, and the ending of the mixed reputation.

Xiufen covered her mouth and looked at the little fat man in surprise, and then looked at Zhao Xing, her eyes were full of complicated expressions, and it took a long time for Ai Ai to ask: "Lord Shizi, does the old prince really want to abolish the Jinyi Guard?" Then he stared at Zhao Xing, with reluctance in his eyes. And the shopkeeper Gao Sheng also had a complicated expression, and he pricked up his ears to listen.

The little fat man was even more proud when he saw that everyone was nervous, but he turned discouraged, so he heyed: "Where do we have so much influence, this dismissal of eunuchs and brocade guards in various places, that is our wise emperor, who accepted the advice of the gentleman of the Eastern Forest of the Manchu Dynasty." A military general like my father, although he has been a prince for generations and has the merits of supporting the three dynasties, in front of those literati and gentlemen, he is still the despised Qiu Ba, and he just listens. However, the matter is settled, and there will be a letter tomorrow. ”

Then he looked at Zhao Xing. found that the party who should be panicked the most, but like no one else, drank tea indifferently.

"What, aren't you worried about losing your future income?" The little fat man wondered.

Looking at this heartless but very clingy friend, Zhao Xing smiled indifferently: "I don't understand, the emperor is extremely wise, in this eventful autumn of internal and external troubles, he can listen to a few words of a few so-called gentlemen who can only talk rhetorically, and then cut off his arms and close his ears and eyes?" I can't even imagine that if a country has no secret services, no NSA, what is the NSA? This is not important, what is important is that Banzai has no eyes and ears of his own, no institution to independently supervise officials, and just by virtue of the so-called gentlemanly character that the civil officials boast of, how incredible and terrible is that it wants to govern this country? In this world, character is the least credible. Hmph, abolish the brocade guard? That's impossible. ”

Chongzhen, who died in the country, IQ cannot be denied, but he was born at the wrong time, what can he do, what can he do?

The little fat man was ignorant, and Xiufen quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

But Zhao Xing continued: "However, my errand on duty is probably going to be gone." ”

The little fat man asked Xiufen, who was nervous again: "Why don't you cut the brocade guard, but your work will be gone?" ”

Zhao Xing smiled calmly: "The eunuchs, the officials at all levels of Jinyiwei and Daming are born to be enemies of life and death who can't pee in a pot. ”

These words came out of the mouth of an elegant Zhao Xing, and Xiufen couldn't help but blush.

Zhao Xing seemed to feel it, so he changed his words: "It's the natural enemy of cat and mouse." The real duty of those of us who sit on duty, and those eunuchs who oversee the army, is to blatantly monitor those officials. How can this make officials at all levels comfortable with their own character and integrity? Therefore, taking advantage of the new emperor's accession to the throne and sweeping away the eunuchs, relying on the excellent opportunity of Donglin, instigated the new emperor to remove the eyes and ears that monitored them, so that they could continue to deceive their superiors and subordinates to do whatever they wanted, and their friends were traitors, which was the means of the Donglin party. ”

The little fat man was thoughtful.

"So, now that the new emperor has been deceived, it is inevitable that we will be removed from the prison army."

After the little fat man thought about it, he thought for Zhao Xing: "But anyway, your work is gone, this matter has been decided, what should you do after tomorrow?" ”

Looking at the tavern and gradually getting seated, Zhao Xing didn't want to talk about this anymore.

In this era, there is nothing big about talking about accusing the emperor. It is also common for ministers to spit directly on the emperor, and at most they will be pulled out by the brocade guard team to play the board, and they can also have a good reputation of being upright. For this reason, the ministers tried their best to ask for the emperor's board but could not.

The literati of this age no longer learn the moderation of the saints, and they have all entered the absolute extremism of paranoia for the sake of opposition.

In order to reflect his outspoken and daring style, he always tried every means to ask the emperor for a beating. As long as he is beaten, he will become famous in Shilin, and his reputation will make them respected and sought after by all scholars. Invitations to feasts and gifts every day, being a good Internet celebrity is really fame and fortune.

Back then, that Emperor Renzong saw a minister insinuating that he scolded the eighteenth generation of his old Zhu family ancestor, and he trembled with anger at that time, but he just muttered: "Just want to ask for a board, to win a clear name, I won't give it to you." "And then act as if nothing had happened. Let that minister be very disappointed, the loss of flying out.

But Zhao Xing doesn't want to get into trouble, he is a casual character.

After drying the residual tea in the teacup, he nodded lightly at Xiufen, smiled and thanked him, and then lifted his embroidered spring knife in the corner of the table, and smiled at the little fat man with a worried face: "You don't know, I have a golden finger, I won't worry about the future life, and I don't need you to worry about it." Looking at the sky, he stood up: "I don't have to go to work tomorrow, I have a big vacation, and I'll go back now." Then he walked out in a dashing manner.

"Wait (don't go)"

Xiufen greeted Zhao Xing, and the little fat man pulled Zhao Xing.

Xiufen asked reluctantly: "Is it true that you won't come tomorrow?" When she said this, she shook off the pull of Zhao Xing's father, whose expression had changed greatly, and her eyes were red.

The little fat man is still unsatisfied: "According to the rules, noon is four dishes and one soup, our two brothers want to drink some, the time is almost up, don't be busy walking." ”

Xiufen also reluctantly said: "The bun I prepared for my sister is not good yet, can I wait?" ”

His father Gao Sheng laughed awkwardly: "I didn't make buns today." ”

A restaurant famous for steamed buns doesn't have steamed buns? Zhao Xing smiled and scolded in his heart, "Philistine villain." But he said to Xiufen and the little fat man: "No need, there are many rights and wrongs to be dismissed, I don't want to be called back to listen to nonsense, so I leave." ”

Then he arched his hand to the three people: "There will be a period later, bye-bye, ah, no, it's goodbye." Then he strode out the door.