Three days ago, Han Xiufeng had everything ready, and was about to personally lead his troops to Tianjin, but he was entangled by a sudden bad thing, so he could only let Yongxiang and Wang Hedong lead his troops over first.

But now, because of the matter of "war" and "peace", the emperor and Prince Zheng, Prince Yi and other princes and ministers were undecided, and he was asked by Su Shun to stay in Beijing to listen to it, and he couldn't go if he wanted to, so he could only let Wang Qianli go to Tianjin quickly.

After Su Shun beheaded Bai Ye by order, the official authority was greater than before, and the heads of the various ministries and courtyards saw him as if they were seeing ghosts, and even Peng Yunzhang, Jia Zhen and Zhou Zupei walked around when they saw him, and they didn't dare to say anything to him in the court.

He is a saint, and what the emperor listens to.

He was not afraid of heaven and earth, but Han Xiufeng was afraid, so he didn't dare to get too close to him, and instead of going to Jixian Courtyard as before, he went straight to the public house that Wen Feng, the Minister of Internal Affairs, helped arrange.

The public house is not big, and the courtyard is also very small, but it is better to be close to the Qinzheng Palace, and ordinary ministers can't enter, so it is quieter than the six duty rooms next to the big palace gate.

Just asked a guard to go and talk to the big head, and the office will be here for a period of time, if the emperor summons him, he will let the big head come here to preach the announcement, and the Minister of Internal Affairs Wen Feng actually shook his fan and walked with a steady official step.

Han Xiufeng didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly closed the official document and got up to greet him.

Although Wen Feng has never expressed any political opinions, as the Minister of Internal Affairs who manages the affairs of the Old Summer Palace, he has a good understanding of the affairs of the court, especially in the Gongmi, and has long seen that Han Xiufeng, a nominal subordinate, is not simple, so he sat down and asked with concern: "Brother Han, although you and I have not been friends for a long time, I still know a little about my brother's personality, he is cautious on weekdays, and he never offends people easily, let alone offends that Xu Haoran, why does he bite you like a mad dog as soon as he makes up the imperial history?" ”

Speaking of this bad thing, Han Xiufeng didn't know how depressed he was, and while helping Wen Feng make tea, he smiled bitterly: "Speaking of which, adults will definitely not believe it, I, Han Xiufeng, not only did not offend him, but also saved his life." ”

"Saved his life, what do you say?"

"This is a long story, if it weren't for Nanyuan Langzhong Wang Qianli reminding me, I wouldn't have remembered this incident, and I can't even remember that there is such a person as him."

Han Xiufeng saluted the tea, sat opposite Wenfeng and explained helplessly: "It is said that 'it is difficult to be an official, it is difficult to be an official, it is even more difficult to be a clean official, it is difficult to live in an official robe, and the breeze on both sleeves boils hunger and cold'. He couldn't afford to rent a house, so he built a shack under a locust tree not far from Nanyuan, and lived there for four years. ”

"Living so far away, how does he go to the yamen every day?"

"I walked and got up in the middle of the night, and I was reluctant to even beat the lantern, so I stumbled into the city in the dark. On the sixth day of the first lunar month of this year, Wang Qianli and I got up early to go to the city for a banquet, and saw a person walking and fainting on the side of the road. Thinking that the weather was so cold and the wind was so strong, if he didn't pay attention to it, he would really freeze to death, so he got out of the car and helped him up, and saw that he was wearing an official uniform, but he was in tatters and couldn't really see it if he didn't look carefully......"

Without waiting for Han Xiufeng to finish speaking, Wen Feng asked: "You want to be an official in the same dynasty, but you can't bear it, so you rescued him?" ”

In fact, there is no way to save him, he is hungry and cold, the car is warmer than outside, so he fed him a few mouthfuls of snacks with hot tea, he just relieved himself, and chatted with him on the way to the city, only to know that he was actually a Hanlin official. Thinking that it would be fate to meet him for the New Year, he gave him twenty taels of silver on a whim. ”

"And then?"

"I heard Wang Qianli say that he went to Nanyuan once, and I happened to go to Tianjin on an errand at that time, and the doorman guarding the door didn't know if he didn't give the door bag when he saw his poor jingle ring, not only didn't let him in, but didn't even help him report. It wasn't until a few days ago that he wrote a letter admonishing me that the imperial court was in an eventful season, and it was not appropriate to build a large number of civil projects to dredge the Nanyuan River Haizi, and impeached me for enriching my own pockets in the name of dredging the Nanyuan River Haizi, and impeaching me for cronyism, forming a party for personal gain, and the officials cited were inconsistent with the examples, that I remembered that there was such a person as him. ”

Wen Feng didn't expect to have this inside story, and couldn't help but sigh: "The ancients didn't deceive me, they really promoted Mien, and fought Mi Hat!" ”

"If you don't say it, you will be angry."

"Brother Han, I know you're too lazy to deal with a mad dog like him, but he won't let you go!"

"He has already impeached me, and he has two links in a row, and the matter has come to this point, even if he doesn't let me go, what can I do with him, I can't go to him."

"Naturally, you can't find him, if it spreads, it will be a bully." Wen Feng put down the teacup, thought about it and asked, "Brother Han, have you asked someone to ask you in the past two days, why did he hold on to you?" ”

"To tell you the truth, I didn't ask someone to ask, but a friend helped me inquire."

"Did your friend inquire about anything?"

Han Xiufeng smiled bitterly and said: "The adults will definitely find it funny when they say it, the reason why he impeached me is because the new officials always have to make some noise when they take office, after all, for them, the imperial historians, they are not afraid of offending people, but they are afraid of losing their reputation; The second is that he has been poor for all these years, he doesn't rush to banquets, he doesn't feast, he doesn't move around much with his colleagues in the Hanlin Academy, and he has almost no friends in Beijing, I, Han Xiufeng, am probably the biggest official he has ever seen in these years, who will he impeach me if he doesn't impeach me? ”

"If I have seen you and know you, I will impeach you, what is the reason!" Wen Feng was made to cry and laugh.

"He wanted to impeach someone, but he wasn't familiar with it! Even if there is a rumor, there must be a wind to catch and a shadow to catch! In contrast, it was much easier to impeach me, not only did he know that I was dredging the river in Nanyuan, but he also knew that Wang Qianli in Nanyuan Langzhong was my old department, and even knew that Ding Zhu of Nanyuan Yuan was not only a fellow villager with me, but also my brother-in-law Han Xiufeng. ”

"It seems that my brother is a villain."

"In our opinion, he is a complete villain, but I think in his opinion, this is a clear distinction between public and private. Even in his eyes, I, Han Xiufeng, am a big corrupt official. ”

"A poor ghost like him just can't see others well!" Wen Feng put down the teacup and said indignantly: "Brother Han, I bet that he is pretending to be like his name now, but it won't be long before he will accept all the orders that should be collected or not, and even intensify the collection." used to scold others for being greedy, that's because he didn't get greedy even if he wanted to! ”

"What the adults said is very true, and if you think about it, it is really possible."

"It's not possible, it's definite." Wen Feng patted his thigh, thought about it and asked, "Brother Han, didn't the emperor summon you in the afternoon before yesterday, did the emperor say anything?" ”

"The emperor didn't say anything, the two folds on Xu Haoran should have been left behind, but the emperor didn't say anything, we can't do nothing."

"So my brother is guilty of a crime?"

"Yes, I ask for punishment, I implore the emperor to hand me over to the ministry, and ask the emperor to dismiss Nanyuan Langzhong Wang Qianli, Yuan Cheng Ding Zhu, Yu Tiesuo and others."

"Has the emperor given permission?"

"How can the emperor take care of these things now, he is worried about the exchange of contracts."

Wen Feng came over and really wanted to inquire about this, and couldn't help asking: "Brother Han, the Russian envoys have come to Beijing, when will the British and Buddhist envoys come?" ”

Thinking that Qingxian said in the letter that the person in front of him had some relationship with his family, Han Xiufeng felt that there was no need to hide it from him, and said worriedly: "As far as Xiufeng knows, the British and Buddhists not only sent envoys, but also sent more than 20 gunboats and ships. ”

"There are more than 20 gunboats and ships, how many soldiers are there?"

"More than two thousand."

"Two thousand soldiers are fine, but there can't be more." Wen Feng breathed a sigh of relief, stared at Han Xiufeng and asked, "What does the emperor mean, does he plan to let the envoys of the British and Buddhist envoys come to Beijing?" ”

This question really stopped Han Xiufeng, and he really didn't know how to answer, so he simply turned out the official document and read it with a wry smile: "On March 29, the emperor ordered the minister of Qin, Seng Greenqin, and the governor of Zhili, Hengfu, to sail to Haikou in Tianjin, and send a member of the committee to meet the people outside the barrage and sand, and reason with them, telling them to always listen to the news from Shanghai. ”

"What if Xiyi doesn't listen to theory?" Wen Feng asked subconsciously.

"The emperor said that if Xiyi does not listen to the theory, the committee member will ask the magistrate of Huiming to ask for the order on his behalf, so that he will listen to it."

Han Xiufeng paused, and then read: "On April 14, the emperor sent a secret message to the minister Monk Greenqin and the governor of Zhili, Hengfu, etc., 'If the ship reaches Haikou, it will send a messenger to inform it that if there is an order to allow it to enter Beijing to exchange the contract, it will be ordered to anchor outside the barrage and sand, cross the inland river with inland boats, and land from Beitang to Beijing, still by water.

On May 20, the emperor sent a secret message to the ministers of Qin, Seng Greenqin, and the governor of Zhili, Hengfu, etc., 'If the Yi chief arrives in Tianjin, the governor of Zhili will tell him that Erjin has a note in Shanghai, leaving Guiliang and others to wait in the south, and Yi will return to the south to discuss matters. ”

Seeing that Wen Feng was thoughtful, Han Xiufeng read again: "The edict of the morning before yesterday is that if the British envoy goes to Tianjin, send someone to order him to anchor outside the barrage, and tell Gui Liang and the others that they have set off from Shanghai, and they will arrive in Tianjin in a few days, and they can discuss everything. If you ask for another person to go there, you can inform the countries of the peace treaties, which are handled by Gui Liang and others, and no one else can know about them. ”

Wen Feng was secretly frightened when he heard this, and he stood up for a while before getting up and saying: "I understand, Brother Xie mentions it, and please rest assured, I will go in and out of my left ear and out of my right ear for these things, and I will never leak half a sentence." ”

"What are you talking about, my lord, you are Xiufeng's boss."

"In front of outsiders, the old man is my brother's boss, but not here." Wen Feng not only traveled to many places back then, but even dealt with foreigners with Qingxian and Amma, not those pedantic people in the court, but the more he thought about it, the more worried he became, and he actually muttered: "It's war or peace, it's undecided, if it goes on like this, I can't do it again." ”

Han Xiufeng has also been thinking about this question for the past two days, thinking of the stubborn temper of Monk Greenqin, he muttered: "It shouldn't be, after all, the monk king is not Tan Tingxiang, nor Gui Liang, he will break it when it is broken." ”

"Will the foreign monarch be disobeyed?"

"The situation in Haikou is changing rapidly, and if a foreigner is arrogant and unreasonable, he will not have time to ask for a decree."

"But can this battle be won?"

"Yingfo Eryi only sent more than 2,000 soldiers this time, it can be seen that there is no one in the eyes, and the ancients will be defeated, not to mention that the imperial court has been preparing for this for nearly a year, so I think there should be a fifty or sixty percent chance of winning. It's just that...... It's just that...... It's just that if you can win this time, it doesn't mean that you can still win next time. ”

"I'll talk about it later, and the top priority is to get over the current hurdle like this."

"Your Excellency is right."

Wen Feng inquired about what he wanted to know, and felt that it was not appropriate to stay here for a long time, so he simply got up and said: "Brother Han, the old man has already explained to those Langzhong chiefs outside, what do you lack here, just talk to them." ”

Han Xiufeng hurriedly bowed down and said, "Lord Xie takes care of you." ”

"The old man goes first."

"Xiufeng sends off my lord."

"Don't send it, stay."

As soon as Han Xiufeng sent Wen Feng out of the door, the big head came over happily, and shouted as soon as he saw him: "Fourth brother, the emperor asked me to call you, Prince Zheng and Lord Su Shun are also there, there must be something important to discuss with you." ”

"Got it, I'll go in and close the door."

"Hurry up, I'll be waiting for you at the door."