Han Xiufeng couldn't figure out why Su Shun made such a show for a while, but he knew that the guild hall couldn't stay any longer, and absentmindedly finished dinner with Ji Yunfei, Ao Tongchen and Wu Zhaoling, who didn't care, and asked Xiao Shandong and Xu Jiu to pack their bags and move to Dazhiqiao Hutong overnight.

Wang Naiseng, Qingxian and Liu Shanyang, who thought that he was going to live in the hall for a few days, were very strange, and walked into "Listening to Yuxuan" one after another to ask the reason.

Han Xiufeng briefly explained the ins and outs of the matter, and said helplessly: "It's really people sitting at home, and disaster comes from the sky." Being so troubled by them, I don't want to be quiet in the future. Not only did he have to go to the Yamen to order from Ming'er, but he had to go to the military plane every once in a while to walk extra, and even the sacrifices that Qing Er should have participated in couldn't help but go! ”

"If you really get pushed to the forefront, you have to be cautious in the future." Wang Naizeng thought for a while, then frowned and asked, "Fourth Master, you have been friends with Su Shun for so many years, why did he treat you like this?" ”

Han Xiufeng smiled bitterly: "I didn't come up with a clue for a while. ”

Qingxian groaned: "Fourth master, I don't think this matter is so complicated. ”

"What do you mean by that?"

"Because the fourth master, you are no longer the same person you were two years ago, whether you were acting as the Tongzhi of Haiphong and the superintendent of the Jiang Customs, or the acting Tongzhi of the south bank of the Yongding River, and even later transferred to the General Administration to the Senate, and then returned to your hometown to supervise the regimental training in eastern Sichuan, several adults, including him, have been promoted."

Qingxian roasted his hands on the stove and continued: "And you led the eastern Sichuan regiment to help Hubei to help suppress Changmao and promote Shaoqing of Taifu Temple, all of which were intended by the emperor, and even directly ordered by the emperor. In his opinion, your wings are stiff, and you are no longer the Han Xiufeng who relied on his care and support before! ”

Han Xiufeng felt that Qingxian's words made some sense, but after thinking about it, he still shook his head: "How much can I Han Xiufeng do, how far can I go in my career, even Brother Qingxian, you know it in your heart, it is difficult for him to be obedient, I wonder if he should not suppress me because of this." ”

"Fourth master, you are a fan of the authorities, do you think about the importance of the size and grade of the official position, or is it important to be able to hand over a sign and beg for an audience at any time, and be able to speak in front of the emperor?"

Qingxian stared at Han Xiufeng closely, and continued: "As far as we know, in the past half a year, especially after Wen Zhongtang fell ill, the emperor rarely summoned Bai Zhongtang and Peng Zhongtang, only seeing him and Prince Zheng and Prince Yi. By the way, there is also the monk king. It's only been a few days since you returned to Beijing, and you've already met him twice, what do you think he will think in his heart? ”

"......" Han Xiufeng was stunned, and was speechless for a while.

Qingxian looked back at Wang Naizeng, who was thoughtful, and then at Liu Shanyang, who was frightened, and suddenly changed his words: "If you guess correctly, he is just a little uncomfortable in his heart, but he doesn't really mean to suppress and exclude you, because in his opinion, this is not a big deal." ”

"It's not a big deal?" Liu Shanyang couldn't help but ask.

Without waiting for Qingxian to speak, Wang Naizeng smiled bitterly and said: "Brother Shizhen, this is really not a big deal for Su Shun, he just killed a group of big greed and locked up a group of small greedy, in his opinion, the Manchu Dynasty civil and military are either corrupt officials or mediocre officials with corpse vegetarian meals, taking the opportunity of the emperor's decree to make a fuss about cold books." Taking advantage of the local gentry to control the school places, and the poor students have no chance to start a career, there is a peep in the tube, from the small to the big, to rectify the teachers and students, the same year, the same capital, relatives and relatives to help each other, planting the party for personal gain, blinding and controlling, recruiting power and accepting bribes. ”

"But freezing three feet is not a day's cold!"

"Brother Shizhen, you and I think that governing the country is like a small cooking, especially at this juncture of external and internal troubles, refreshing the rule of officials should be slowed down. But he didn't think so, he was seizing the day, he felt that if he didn't rectify it, the Qing Dynasty would die! Wang Naizeng stood up, lifted the kettle on the stove, and continued while helping Han Xiufeng refill the tea: "Compared to asking the emperor to no longer give preferential treatment to the Eight Banners, take the opportunity of the emperor to reward the four masters for their origins, and what is it to knock down the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty?" ”

Liu Shanyang was taken aback: "He asked the emperor to stop the Eight Banners, Brother Yunqing, you're not kidding!" ”

"Can I make such a joke?"

Wang Naizeng put down the kettle and said with a wry smile: "Actually, sometimes I really admire him, so he dares to say it, and he dares to do such a thing." It's a pity that I didn't think about it enough, and I didn't want to think about how many children of the Eight Banners who could neither farm nor do business, but could only grow flowers, raise birds, walk dogs, and fight crickets. Fortunately, the emperor didn't listen to him, if you really want to listen, I estimate that the people in Sijiu City will rebel. ”

It was the first time Liu Shanyang had heard of this, and after thinking about it, he couldn't help but ask: "If he does this, the Manchurians in Beijing and outside Beijing still don't hate him to death?" ”

"Hate, but he is in power, and those Manchurians outside can only hate in their hearts, and they all dare to be angry but dare not speak."

Wang Naizeng didn't want to go too far, so he immediately looked at Han Xiufeng and said: "Fourth master, I think Brother Qingxian's words are reasonable, Su Shun must think that doing this can not only make a deal with the emperor, help the emperor Shunshun reward you with your background, but also take the opportunity to knock down Bai Zhongtang, Peng Zhongtang and other ministers." even thinks that doing this will prevent you from 'colluding' with those adults, after all, you have done a lot of things in your current position. ”

"It should be." Han Xiufeng touched the corners of his mouth and said with a somewhat self-deprecating wry smile: "He knows that it is a big regret of mine to have a bad background, and he knows that the more people like me who have not read a few sage books, the more they want to be recognized by Shilin." I feel that I am becoming more and more like a civil official, and I am worried that I will fall to Lord Zhou, Lord Weng and Peng Zhongtang, so I simply take this opportunity to quickly cut through the mess and cut off my idea of pretending to be Sven! ”

"Fourth master, as far as I know, isn't he very good to scholars?" Liu Shanyang asked puzzled.

It depends on who it is, those who are like-minded with him, and those who have never met talents, he not only treats him as a guest but even as a confidant. And those who are in a high position and have political opinions and disagreements with him, he will naturally not be treated. ”

"He doesn't want to see Peng Zhongtang?"

"Why don't you wait to see Peng Zhongtang, university scholars Zhou Zupei, Jia Zhen, and co-organizers of the university scholars, as long as it is a high-ranking Hanchen, he doesn't want to see him, in his opinion, those adults are all mediocre officials who have no opinions, and the corpses are vegetarian."

"Fourth master, he doesn't want to see him at all, his relationship with Chen Fuen, the secretary of the Ministry of War, is not ordinary." Qingxian looked up.

"As far as I know, Chen Fuen's official reputation is not good, how did he get activated?" Han Xiufeng asked curiously.

Qingxian knew the matter of the Daoguang Dynasty best, and was silent for a moment and said with mixed feelings: "Chen Fuen is famous for seeing the wind and making the rudder, talking about people when he sees people, and talking about ghosts. When he was in the center of duty, he walked on the military aircraft Zhangjing, and Mu Zhang'a, the minister of military aircraft at the time, saw that he was smart and clever and capable of doing things, so he introduced him as a confidant.

At that time, Wang Ding, the Minister of Military Aircraft, supported Lin Zexu and Xu Zuo to ban smoking, Mu Zhang'a and his father did not object at first, after all, big smoke is a harmful thing, and I don't know how much silver Yingyi will earn because of big smoke for a year. But later, smoking was banned, and Yingyi also started fighting with us. ”

"And then?" Han Xiufeng asked.

Lin Zexu first said that Yingyi was not worried, and even won two victories in three days, but then he was defeated, and he couldn't fight again, so he could only negotiate peace. Seeing Mu Zhang'a's main peace, seeing that the emperor not only gave permission, but also ordered his father to negotiate peace with Xiyi, Wang Ding, who has always supported Lin Zexu's ban on smoking and has been the main battle, strongly opposed it. ”

These matters involving land cession compensation are not mentioned by ordinary people, let alone discussed.

Han Xiufeng heard it for the first time, and then asked, "Later." ”

"Closing the door and hanging himself, hoping to admonish the corpse, this is not a trivial matter, if it is spread out that Mu Zhang'a and his father will be dismissed, and even the first emperor will become a faint king. It happened that Chen Fuen was ordered to handle this matter, and he rushed to Wang's house in a hurry, ruined Wang Ding's recital, and it is said that he also used both soft and hard to seal the mouth of Wang Ding's son Wang Xin. Mu Zhang'a escaped and was unscathed, but his father was dismissed and questioned because of his discussion with Xiyi. ”

Qingxian took a deep breath and continued: "Since then, he has been on the rise, twenty-seven years, transferred to the military department, and walked on the Minister of Military Aircraft, when he was only forty-five years old. A Hanchen can enter the center at the age of forty-five, and there are few since Yongzheng Ye set up the military aircraft department.

Later, together with Bai Ye, he was ordered to go to Shandong to inspect the rule of officials, impeached the governor of Shandong, Chongen, for the lack of funds in the treasury and the laxity of arrests, and temporarily served as the governor of Shandong for a few months after overthrowing Chongen. The first emperor believed that it was true, not only rewarded him with a head belt and a horse ride in the Forbidden City, but also used the imperial pen to write the four big characters of 'Honest and Virtuous Minister'! ”

Such a favor has not been seen since the Shunzhi Dynasty to the present.

Liu Shanyang couldn't help but ask: "Then is he a clean official?" ”

"As far as I know, he should receive Bing Jing, Tan Jing, Bei Jing, and Nian Jing...... The same is not less. ”

Qingxian paused, and then said: "The first emperor thought that he was a loyal minister and a great Qing official, and later ordered him to go to Shanxi to inspect the rule of officials, and he did not disappoint the first emperor. The first emperor appreciated him even more, first promoted him to the head of the Ministry of Works, and then ordered him to act as the secretary of the Ministry of Engineering, and within a few months, he moved the secretary of the Ministry of Punishment.

Later, the first emperor died, and now he ascends the throne.

Because the emperor has always been haunted by the compensation for the land cution, he feels shameless in the face of his ancestors and ancestors, which can be said to be depressed, and he has left an edict not to enter the temple before his death. This is not a trivial matter, the emperor asked the courtiers, Chen Fuen actually quarreled with Prince Yi Zaiyuan in front of the palace in front of the emperor and the ministers, which was really unseemly.

Afterwards, Prince Yi was only fined for half a year, and he was reprimanded by the emperor and demoted three levels to remain in office. It may be that he thought that this was a royal matter after all, and he should not be involved as a foreign minister. may also realize what it means to be a son of heaven and a courtier, he hurriedly went to the excerpt to ask him to return to his hometown to support his old mother, and the emperor just told him to get out. ”

Han Xiufeng knew something about what happened later, and couldn't help but sigh: "Later, the emperor dismissed Mu Zhang'a's official for the crime of 'protecting the throne and greedy for honor, hindering the virtuous and sick country', and dismissed him from his post and never used it, and the 'Mu Party' in the court was also dismissed and investigated one after another. He invited him to return to his hometown to support his mother for the rest of his life, and he just escaped a catastrophe. ”

At that time, my father also said that he felt that something was wrong, deliberately quarreled with Prince Yi, and took the opportunity to retreat. It's just that he didn't expect that after six years, he actually ran back, and as soon as he returned to the capital, he asked Qian Guisen, the imperial historian of Shanxi Province, to fold it, and said, 'The former Shangshu Chen Fuen is talented and good, please give it a boost'. ”

"He is Mu Zhang'a's person, how can the emperor use him?"

"Yes, it is said that Lord Wen said that the emperor was furious when he saw the excerpt, and he reprimanded him with a face, saying, 'If you are not instructed by someone, that is, you are interested in the city, and it is ridiculous to play it'. even thought that Qian Guisen was not up to the task of imperial history, and ordered him to go back to the original yamen to walk as a light punishment. ”

Qingxian took a sip of water, and then said: "The emperor doesn't want to see him, and Prince Yi, who is deeply valued by the emperor, won't treat him well, but a few days later, the emperor actually ordered him to wear the head of the military department, and then promoted him to the secretary of the military department, fourth master, you are not surprised." ”

Wang Naizeng didn't want to sell Guanzi, and said with a little disdain: "As far as I know, after he was reprimanded by the emperor, he ran to Prince Zheng, Prince Yi and Su Shun's house almost every day, and his flattery and diligence towards Prince Zheng, Prince Yi and Su Shun are really indescribable. ”

"What a big husband can bend and stretch!" Han Xiufeng sighed lightly.

"Fourth master, I don't think it's strange that he flatters and curries favor in order to seek officials. The strange thing is what kind of person he is, Su Shun should know very well. Knowing that he is a villain, why did he ask the emperor to use him? ”

"What's so strange about this, anyway, he has also been a minister of military aircraft for a few years, and he can be reused as soon as he is promoted, and he is a master who can do anything, it is appropriate for Su Shun to use him to help rectify the rule of officials, anyway, he is not afraid of offending people."

"But Baoju is different from the fourth master, what should the emperor do if Long Yan is angry?" Wang Naizeng still doesn't quite understand.

"Then have you ever wondered why the emperor would reuse Su Shun?"

Han Xiufeng asked rhetorically and explained: "The emperor knows that corruption in the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty is rampant, and he wants to work hard, so he will reuse a clan like Sushun who dares to speak and dare to do. Su Shun played, please use Chen Fuen, the emperor knows that it is to rectify the rule of officials, so he will naturally be gracious. And Shanxi Provincial Imperial History Qian Guisen asked Chen Fuen to use Chen Fuen, whether it was out of public intentions, and the emperor knew it well. ”

"I understand, it turns out that in the emperor's mind, he Chen Fuen is still the same Chen Fuen before."

"Don't talk about him, let's talk about what is in front of you."

Han Xiufeng put down the teacup and looked around at everyone: "I estimate that the emperor will receive the Guangdong report soon, no matter what Ye Mingchen says in the recital, and no matter whether the emperor will believe it, we can't do nothing like now." Brother Yunqing, I want to bother you to go out and go to Guangzhou again. The first is to do the thing that was said in the afternoon, and the second is to grasp the situation nearby. Yun Qijun: They can only inquire about the news there, and you may be able to do something if you go. ”

"Yes, I'm ready to prepare and try to leave early."

"Shi Zhen, I plan to ask you to go too, and set off with Yunqing, but you don't go to Guangdong, but to Shanghai. Yu'er's girl is getting more and more disagreeable, you go and help me keep an eye on it, and open my eyes by the way. ”

"Okay, I'm going to Shanghai to see the world." Liu Shanyang agreed without thinking.

"Brother Qingxian, I have to go to the Yamen to order Mao from Ming'er, and the bookstore depends on you." Without waiting for Qingxian to speak, Han Xiufeng said again: "As for Sushun's side, the three of you can rest assured. In the future, if I can not hand over the sign to ask for a meeting, I will not hand over the sign to ask for a meeting, and if I can not go to the fold, I will not go to the fold, and I will not and will not need to slap others, as long as I am a man with my tail between my legs, he should not toss me anymore. ”