One evening in early June, in an upper room of the Zhumadian Post Station in Henan, an old man in his sixties and two young people in their twenties were having dinner together. The two young men were scolding and scolding while eating, and one of them ate a steamed bun that might be a little salty, but I saw him throw the bun in his hand on the table, "Bah" two mouthfuls to spit out the bun residue in his mouth, and then rolled up his sleeves to find Yicheng theory. At this time, the old man spoke: "Liangqing, sit down!" The voice was not high, but it revealed a majesty. The young man named Liangqing looked at the old man a little fearfully and said: "Uncle, look, this tiger is really going to be bullied by dogs, this post station actually gave us this, and I will kill all the people here in the past!" ”

If anyone who knows will be surprised to find that this old man is Wei Zhongxian, the hot-after Dongchang Governor in recent years, and the two young men are his two nephews, Wei Liangqing and Wei Liangdong, the commanders of Jinyiwei. I saw Wei Zhongxian reach out and pick up the half of the bun that Wei Liangqing threw on the table, looked left and right, opened his mouth and took a bite, why didn't he take a bite of it, he said twice: "It's delicious, whoever wants to give me such a bun to eat when our family is in trouble, I have to call him my father." ”

Looking at the two brothers Wei Liangqing and Wei Liangdong who were stupid on the side, Wei Zhongxian smiled and said, "You weren't born in some rich family, so you can't eat this?" ”

Wei Liangdong asked puzzledly: "Uncle, although the emperor arrested us and raided our house, isn't it released again?" We are still the commander of the Jinyi Guard, and although your old man is still the commander of Dongchang, although he sent Nanjing, what are we afraid of, do we have to be a man with his tail between his legs? ”

Wei Zhongxian slowly shook his head and said, "You don't understand, if you understand, tell me why the emperor let go of our three masters this time?" ”

Wei Liangqing also asked strangely: "I also think it's strange, then Mrs. Fengsheng's relationship with the emperor should be longer than you, uncle, how can you say that you will be buried?" ”

Wei Zhongxian said: "Because the emperor thinks that she is useless and I am still a little useful, Wang Tiqian is right, the old love is like old socks, if it is good, it will be dirty to lose it." What are we now? It is a dog sent by the emperor to prepare to bite people, this fierce dog generally does not bite people, only scares people, and the dog that really wants to bite people does not bark, but it is a mouthful. ”

Wei Liangdong said: "Then the emperor asked Uncle to bite who are you going to bite...... Oh no...... Who's cleaning up? ”

Wei Zhongxian said: "We don't need to know who will be notified when we clean up, we just need to watch quietly and watch with a smile." A dog should bite who should listen to the owner, but if you are asked to bite you but can't, it means that you are already a useless meat dog, and the owner will stew you into a pot of soup and drink it immediately. You see the way you start to show your teeth and claws, and others will be on guard when they see it, can you bite someone? From now on, keep a low profile and keep a low profile, you know? ”

Wei Liangdong thought for a while and nodded vigorously and said, "Uncle, my nephew understands, isn't he just pretending to be a grandson?" From now on, even if someone spits in my face, I won't get angry, and I will wipe it with my sleeve immediately, Liangqing, do you understand? ”

Wei Liangqing said: "You're not right, you can't wipe it in front of others, you should run to a place where no one is on the side to wipe it, uncle, do you think I'm right?" ”

Wei Zhongxian said: "What you said is roughly right, but you don't do enough. ”

Wei Liangqing and Wei Liangdong asked together: "Where is it not enough?" ”

Wei Zhongxian said: "Someone spitting in your face shows that he is angry, isn't it even more angry when you wipe him?" You should laugh and ignore it and let the wind dry your saliva slowly. ”

Just when Wei Zhongxian was giving his two nephews an education class on reminiscing about bitterness and sweetness, in a post station eighty miles away from them, Liu Qiaozheng, the commander of the Jinyi Wei Zhenfu Division, who had been reinstated, accompanied Yang Lian, the former deputy capital envoy of the left deputy capital who he escorted into Beijing, to speak, the two had just eaten and were drinking the consumption tea, and the tea brewed with bitterness here was also bitter and astringent, Yang Lian took a sip and said, "Well, you should drink Kuding tea." ”

Liu Qiao said: "Just like Lord Yang's encounter, it is a bittersweet end." ”

Yang Lian said: "Cheng Liu's auspicious words, but although this time it was escorted into Beijing, the emperor's holy decree also said that it would have to be tried after entering Beijing, and Yang was still a prisoner." ”

Liu Qiao said: "Lord Yang still doesn't know, right? Your crime is accepting a bribe from Xiong Tingbi, Xiong Tingbi has now been acquitted of the military plane of the Senate of the Military Council, he is all right, can you still be fine? Besides, who in the Manchu Dynasty doesn't know that you are honest and upright? You are the minister of life, and you are just around the corner. ”

Yang Lian took a sip of tea and didn't speak, just stared intently at the lamp on the table, his black eyes reflected the constantly jumping flames, and he had a little anticipation in his heart.

One night a few days later, Tianqi was lying on the bed talking with Empress Zhang Yan in Kunning Palace, Empress Zhang was a little less noble but a little more delicate after unloading, she looked at Tianqi and said: "Your Majesty, now that the harem is empty and the emperor lacks heirs, the concubines feel that they should choose concubines for the emperor, otherwise the ministers of the court should say that the concubines are not, and the Ministry of Rites has prepared a request and asked the eunuchs to inform the concubines." ”

Tianqi thought for a while and said, "Don't choose a concubine, choose a palace maid instead." ”

Empress Zhang asked strangely: "Why don't you choose a concubine and choose a palace maid?" ”

Tianqi said: "A while ago, I heard two palace maids talking, it seemed that they were very homesick, I was thinking that this palace maid is also a human being, and she should also marry and have children to live a normal life, and it is not appropriate to lock them up in the palace for a lifetime." ”

Empress Zhang looked at the apocalypse and said: "There is also such a record in the book of the concubine, and Yuan Zhi of the Tang Dynasty once said in a poem: 'The ancient palace is lonely, and the palace flowers are lonely and red. The white-headed palace maid is here, sitting idle and talking about Xuanzong. 'It is a good thing for the emperor to have a heart of benevolence, but what are you going to do? ”

Tianqi said: "Palace maids generally enter the palace at the age of eleven or twelve, and it should be enough to do things in the palace for ten years, no matter how old they are, it will not be easy to get married." In this way, the queen will ask someone to count it, and those who are willing to leave the palace at the age of twenty-two can be given silver to allow them to return to their hometowns, and those who are unwilling to leave can also stay, and life outside is not easy. ”

Empress Zhang said: "What about the selection of concubines? How to answer the Ministry of Rites? ”

Tianqi said: "Don't choose a concubine, the concubine you choose is more pampered and arrogant, and no palace maid is obedient, I really want to find more sons to choose among the palace maids." To the Ministry of Rites, I praised Huo Quai's heroic words about how the Huns were not destroyed, and decided not to choose a concubine before the slave was destroyed. ”

Empress Zhang smiled: "Those old men in the Ministry of Rites will be moved to tears if they hear the emperor say this." ”

Tianqi said: "Don't choose too many palace maids, choose as many as you go." By the way, your father is a count, right? I have decided to elevate him to the rank of Marquis and reward you for your efforts in getting rid of the Hakka clan. ”

Empress Zhang said: "The concubine thanked the emperor on behalf of her father. ”

Tianqi said: "Rest, tomorrow will be early, Mr. Sun will return to Beijing in the evening, he handed over the sign to see me, I am afraid that he will be tired and let him rest, and I will see you tomorrow morning." ”

Early the next morning, Tianqi got up to run and freshen up and prepare to eat and go to the court, and when he was about to eat, Yang Gongchun came, and whispered that Neiwei and Jinyiwei had sold the family property stolen from the Hakka and Wei Zhongxian's homes together. As soon as Tianqi heard that it was sold out in more than ten days, he asked, "How much has it been sold?" Where is it sold? Who are they sold to? ”

Yang Gongchun said: "Back to the emperor, in addition to the palace seal of the return of the library, the rest of the total sold more than 6.2 million taels were exchanged for silver tickets, due to the short time only sold in Beijing, if you get Jiangnan to sell may be more, as for the buyer is the slave did not find out, they are very alert and not easy to follow too closely, but listen to the accent everywhere." ”

Apocalypse said: "Does the buyer know who you are?" ”

Yang Gongchun said: "Our people all wear makeup and have different accents, but we can't help but take a closer look at it, especially those who send things to Wei Zhongxian." ”

Apocalypse said: "If you know, you know, who dares to talk nonsense?" Six million will be left to me, and two hundred thousand fractions will be divided among you. ”

Yang Gongchun said: "How dare you ask for money for the emperor? ”

Apocalypse said: "I understand that the errand without money is boring, you don't want others to need it, pay attention not to be greedy and fair, and there will be it later." ”

Yang Gongchun was overjoyed and said, "Thank you, Emperor." Then he stepped back.

With Qian Tianqi having fun while eating, he thought: "Find someone who everyone hates to buy a few more times, and you won't have to worry about money." ”