At noon yesterday, I received five large boxes of newspapers, books, and photos sent back by the Xin'an branch and the Shanghai branch through the ticket number.

Wang Naizeng and Qingxian convened the translators in each room and translated until the third watch, until they translated all the foreigners' newspapers and read them before coming back to rest. I was going to sleep a little longer, but I didn't expect to be woken up by the crackling sound of firecrackers outside.

"Sihuai, what day is it today, why are there guns outside?" Wang Naizeng got up and walked out, yawned and asked.

Yang Sihuai, the second son of Yang Qinghe, the shopkeeper of "Houyi Hall", hurriedly put down the broom, and while going to wash up and prepare to serve Wang Naizeng to wash, he smiled and said: "Sir, today's palace trial list, those halls outside can be lively, even the shopkeeper Wen of the Chongqing Hall sent someone to invite Yuan Guard, Old Uncle Yu and Xiao Shandong to eat and drink in the evening. ”

Twenty days ago, Su Jueming sent back from Shanghai a message that Ren Yuer had inquired about when she was a guest at the English Consulate, saying that the war between Britain and France and Russia was almost the same, and the warring parties were preparing to negotiate peace, which was by no means good news for the imperial court, so Wang Naizeng was so busy these days that he only knew that Zhang Zhidong had fallen into the first place, and he really had no time to ask about other things.

As soon as Yang Sihuai said this, Wang Naizeng subconsciously asked: "Has the palace test been released?" ”

"The list has been released, I heard from people outside that the emperor is the emperor and the palace is passed on, and the second son of Weng Xin's family, Weng Tongyi, is the champion, Sun Yuwen of Jeju, Shandong is the eye of the list, Hong Changyan of Hunan Chaling is Tanhua, Weng Tongxi, Sun Yuwen, Hong Changyan are the three Jinshi and the first, Zhong Baohua and other 100 people are from Jinshi, and 13 people such as Sun Yan are from Jinshi!"

Thinking that Weng Xincun is now a co-organizer of the university scholar and the secretary of the ministry, and the boss of the Weng family, Weng Tongshu, is helping to handle Jiangbei military affairs, Wang Naizeng couldn't help but sigh: "The father and son are three jinshi, and there is also a champion duke, and the Weng family must be in the market at this time." ”

"This is natural, Xiao estimated that the car in front of his house couldn't stop at this moment."

"How many of the prefectures and counties in Chongqing Prefecture have been hit?"

Without waiting for Yang Sihuai to speak, Yu Youfu, who heard the movement and came in from outside with hot water, smiled and said: "Mr. Wang, we have won one in Chongqing Mansion this time, Master Shao Hanshao of Yongchuan, who was born as a fellow jinshi with one hundred and twelve third-class names!" ”

"The last time I went to your mansion, I saw that there were a lot of people who came to take the exam this time, why did I get one?" Wang Naizeng asked in a low voice.

"It's not easy to be able to get one, and when I tried to release the list, I listened to Master Ao say that Chengdu, Neijiang, Nanchong, Luzhou, Yibin, Suining, Langzhong, and our Chongqing Prefecture's Ba County, Changshou, Jiangjin and other counties did not do well in the exam this time, so many people came to take the exam, and the results were all lost, and none of them failed to Chinese."

"Well, the test is also very important."

Thinking that he was going to the guild hall to eat wine in the evening, Yu Youfu said happily: "But I heard that Director Zhang of the Provincial Pavilion has done well in Sichuan this year, and Master Xu Changxu of Fengdu County has been given a Jinshi background with the fourth place in the second class, and it is not easy to get this rank." There is also Tan Neng Gao Tan Master of Shifang County, although he only took the top three and seventy in the exam, but he was the first Jinshi in the Shifang Dynasty Examination, and Shifang had never been a Jinshi Master before! ”

"Really?" Seeing Zhang Xi walking in from outside, Wang Naizeng realized that it was inappropriate to say these things again, and asked quietly: "Zhang Xi, where is your young master?" ”

"Mr. Wang, my young master went to the provincial pavilion to say goodbye to his friends, and he plans to ...... I plan to leave tomorrow and the day after tomorrow to return to my hometown, and then return to Guizhou. Seeing that Wang Naizeng was thoughtful, Zhang Xi hurriedly said: "There are many people in the provincial hall, and the small one doesn't even have a place to stand, so I told the young master to come back first, and pack up my luggage first." ”

"Is your young master okay?" Wang Naizeng stared at him and asked.

"It's okay, my young master said that he didn't pass the exam this time, and he will take the exam again next time."

"It's okay," Wang Naizeng smiled slightly, and then changed the conversation: "Zhang Xi, you don't have to pack your luggage, when your young master comes back, just say that I have something to do with him." ”

"How can you go back without packing your bags?" Zhang Xi asked puzzled.

"Even if I go back, I'm not in a hurry for a day or two, I can't tell you clearly. I'll have something to do later...... Otherwise, Sihuai, you wait here, and when Young Master Zhang comes back, please ask Young Master Zhang to go to the bookstore. ”

Yang Sihuai realized that Mr. Wang was planning to let Zhang Zhidong enter Houyi Hall, and maybe he would help Zhang Zhidong find an errand, so he hurriedly said: "Obey!" ”

The more Zhang Xi listened, the more confused he became, thinking about which bookstore to go to, if he wanted to talk about bookstores, there were many bookstores outside, but he didn't dare to ask, so he could only listen to Wang Naizeng honestly.

……

The name fell to Sun Mountain, and Zhang Zhidong was very lost.

However, thinking that he is still young, although he can take the exam in another three years this time, he is not as depressed as before, smiling and congratulating the fellow villagers with the title of the gold list, and talking about wine with the fellow villagers who have not been in the exam, after eating, they will say goodbye one by one, until the sun is about to set, and they will return to this deep house compound in Dazhiqiao Hutong.

Yu Youfu and Xiao Shandong went to the Chongqing Hall to eat, Yang Sihuai was the gatekeeper without concessions, and seeing Zhang Xi also sitting in the gatehouse and waiting, Zhang Zhidong couldn't help asking: "Sihuai, is your master in the room?" ”

Yang Sihuai hurriedly got up and said, "Young Master Zhang, Mr. Wang is waiting for you in the bookstore, and the little one is waiting for you for an afternoon." ”

"Which bookstore?"

"The little one will show you the way, Zhang Xi, please help me watch the door for a while."

"Okay."

Zhang Zhidong was confused, and he couldn't ask anything, so he simply walked out of the courtyard with Yang Sihuai with the corner of his clothes, and just turned around like this, and came to a bookstore that looked a little familiar but had never been in.

Yang Sihuai lifted the door curtain, turned around and smiled: "Young Master Zhang, please." ”

"Okay."

In a very ordinary bookstore, the shopkeeper was lying on a pile of books and was drowsy, looked up at Yang Sihuai, and lay down again as if he hadn't seen anything.

Zhang Zhidong was about to ask where Mr. Wang was, Yang Sihuai actually walked to the corner and knocked on the inconspicuous small door three times, and after waiting for a while, the door creaked open from the inside, only to see that Enjun, the guard of the Qianqing Gate who had visited Mr. Wang in the past few months, was wearing a civilian dress and holding a delicate birdcage and looked at him with a smile.

"It turned out to be Master Eunjun, why are you here!"

"Come in and say, Master Wen and Mr. Wang are waiting for you inside."

"Master Wen is also there?"

"Hurry up."

"Oh."

I don't know if I don't come in, and I'm surprised when I come in.

This bookstore looks inconspicuous from the outside, but there is a hole inside, not only has a courtyard, but also several enters, and the courtyard is not small. There are all people in the wings on the east and west sides, and they don't know what they are busy with, and there are even people guarding the courtyard gate with waist knives in front of each entry.

Zhang Zhidong looked around curiously, followed Enjun into the innermost hall, and found that the hall was full of dazzling Western objects, and Wen Xiang and Wang Naizeng were the same fifty or sixty-year-old elders, gathered around the Eight Immortals Table to inspect the palm-sized pictures.

"The cave to meet Lord Wen."

"Brother Xiaoda, you came just in time, let's take a look." Wen Xiang pointed to the pictures on the table and smiled.

Zhang Zhidong didn't dare to ask more, and he didn't dare to step forward like this, so he bowed to Wang Naizeng and the elders opposite, and then walked to the table and carefully picked up a picture and looked at it.

There is a portrait of Confucian in the picture, but it can be seen that the focus of this picture is not on Confucianism, but on the foreigner's ironclad gunboat behind Confucian. A row of cannon holes were opened in the hull, and there were more than a dozen of them when you counted them carefully. Looking at other pictures, it is not the foreign soldiers who are training, or the foreign warships anchored in the harbor, and there are many strange-looking foreign portraits.

"Master Wen, how can it be so similar, who painted it?" Zhang Zhidong couldn't help but ask.

"It's not a painting, it's taken with a foreigner's camera," Wen Xiang put down the photo in his hand, and turned to point to a box in the corner with a shelf covered with flannel: "It's that thing, it can take pictures of the people and things you and I see, it's no different from real people and real things, it's really lifelike." ”

Zhang Zhidong suddenly remembered that someone seemed to have mentioned taking photos, and couldn't help but say: "It is said that this thing captures people's souls?" ”

"Do you believe it?"

"The Cave...... The hole didn't believe it. ”

"If you don't believe it, don't be afraid, go back and send someone to take a picture of you." Wen Xiang smiled, then turned around and asked, "Qingxian, what do you think about the fact that Britain and France plan to negotiate peace with Russia, and even plan to send an expeditionary force to our China?" ”

"The news was found by Miss Ren at the English Consulate, and I don't think it should be fake." Qingxian paused, and then said: "In my opinion, it is useless for you and me to be anxious about the affairs of England, and the top priority is not to give France any more excuses to make trouble." ”

"What do you mean by that?"

"In the morning, I just received an urgent report from the Nanhai Branch, saying that the French consul sent someone to hand over a note to Ye Mingchen on the eighth day of the first month of last month, demanding that Ye Mingchen be acquitted of his crimes, sneaking into Xilin, Guangxi from Guangdong, colluding with the government, and harboring the French missionaries Ma Lai who had abducted and raped adulterers such as Ma Zinong and Lin Ba, and demanded that Ye Mingchen apologize and even compensate Ma Lai and more than 20 other lawbreakers for their losses."

"How did Ye Mingchen reply?"

"I didn't come back," Qingxian said helplessly, "not only did he not return, but it seems that he was planning to punish that French missionary." ”

"Ming Zheng's canonical punishment, he cut off the head of the French missionary with a knife, but isn't this adding chaos to the court?" The more Wen Xiang thought about it, the more depressed he became, and he threw down the photo in his hand and said: "I can't delay any longer, I can't wait any longer, I will make an excerpt, and I will hand over the sign early tomorrow morning and beg for an audience." ”

"Okay, I'll do it."

Zhang Zhidong was secretly frightened when he heard this, and was thinking about what kind of place this was, Wen Xiang turned around and said, "Xiaoda, I heard Yunqing say that you plan to go back?" ”

Zhang Zhidong relieved himself, and hurriedly bowed down and said: "Lord Yuwen, the name of the cave falls to Sun Mountain, instead of spending time in the capital, it is better to go back to Guizhou earlier." ”

"Once you enter this door, you can't go back."

Wen Xiang motioned for him to sit, and stared at him and said: "This place is called 'Houyi Hall', which looks like a bookstore from the outside, but it is actually a place where the order is to investigate and sort out the situation for the military aircraft department and even the emperor's advisers to consult. The first treasurer was Han Xiufeng, who entrusted you to give me and Yunqing a letter, and it can be said that he single-handedly set up this yamen outside the economic system, and even the civil and military officials in Hong Kong, Xin'an, Nanhai, Macao, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo, and Shanghai to inquire about the situation were all sent by him during the Senate of the General Administration Department.

Enjun and Yuan Da's first guards are also all stationed here by the emperor, and they are related to the secrets of the imperial court. If civil and military officials trespass, they will be taken down immediately and will be judged by the emperor. Even if it is an unintentional move, he can save his life, but the official must not be able to do it, and he will either stay in the court to serve, or send Xinjiang to serve as a drudgery. ”

Zhang Zhidong was dumbfounded, and said with a bitter face: "Master Wen, Zhidong doesn't know this, and Zhidong didn't think about it, the reason why Zhidong is here is ...... It's ......"

"Xiaoda, don't worry, you were invited by me, and you were recommended by Zhixing, so you won't be investigated, let alone sent to Xinjiang as a drudgery."

"Mr. Wang, you mean Master Han ......"

"Zhixing didn't say anything in the letter he asked you to bring to Lord Wen and me, but if he can let you send a letter to Lord Wen and me, it means that he can trust you, which means that you are not an outsider." Wang Naizeng looked back at Wen Xiang, and then said: "But anyway, you entered Beijing to take the exam, so Master Wen didn't want to delay your future, so he never mentioned the matter of 'Houyi Hall' to you." It's different now, and now I can say that I can invite you to come over. ”

"Mr. Wang, are you saying that Master Han plans to let Zhidong come to the 'Houyi Hall' to work?"

"'Houyitang' is not just as simple as finding out and sorting out the situation, there is no shortage of effective people, the reason why Zhixing recommended you to Lord Wen, and the reason why Lord Wen and I invited you over is to let you broaden your horizons and see the world here." Wang Naizeng turned the globe in his hand, looked at him and said solemnly: "I believe that you will be eye-open, and you will not regret walking through this door." ”

Zhang Zhidong felt like he was dreaming and muttered, "But ......"

Wen Xiang took over the conversation: "Don't be, I know you're worried about your father, your father-in-law, and the war in Guizhou, but how much can you help when you go back?" The imperial court is in an eventful autumn, and compared to returning to Guizhou, staying here can do a great job. ”

"Master Wen, the cave is only shallow in learning, and he has already fallen into the name of Sun Mountain, what kind of great career can he do?"

"Xiyi is gearing up to start a war with me in the Qing Dynasty, compared to those bandits in Guizhou, which is more important, you should know in your heart! And then we won't let you stay here in such a bad name, nor will we delay your future. If you are willing to serve the emperor, I will help you find a shortage of official learning.

At that time, I will be able to familiarize myself with the affairs of the church, and at the same time help find a few talented and honest officials and students to learn the language and writing of Xiyi, review and review their homework in their spare time, and wait for three years to take the exam. As for your wife, you can bring it to the capital. ”

Looking at Zhang Zhidong's appearance of wanting to speak and stopping, Wang Naizeng added: "Although Houyitang is not a yamen in the economic system, it can reach the heavens like the military aircraft department. Master Wen is also a big shopkeeper, and he can enter the palace at any time to hand over a sign and ask to see him. The foreman of the military aircraft Zhang Jing Cao Yuying Cao is also the treasurer of the Han University, and he is responsible for reporting the situation to the military ministers such as Wen Zhongtang and Peng Daren! ”