On the second day, Chen Xin sent Lu Donkey, Hai Dog, and a few people to inquire about the news, and Song Wenxian also planned to go out to find an old acquaintance who had been a staff member before. Chen Xin wanted to talk to Dai Zhenggang and Zhu Guobin about military training, but he didn't have the bottom of his trip to Beijing and was not in the mood to talk about these things, so he went out with Song Wenxian and went to Chongwenmen, preparing to go to the inner city of Beijing.

Beijing Inner City City Thursday fifteen miles, a total of nine gates, later the Manchu Qing Dynasty that nine gates of the Admiral refers to the inner city, Chongwen Gate in the southeast of the inner city, is one of the eight major banknotes of the Ming Dynasty, there is a Xuanjiao Division here, the annual collection of commercial tax is nearly 90,000 taels. The goods of the world are all over the world, and the inside and outside of Chongwen Gate is one of the most prosperous places in the business of Beijing, the main street on both sides is the corridor house built in the early Ming Dynasty, which is rented to the merchants by Daxing County, and the surrounding alleys are mostly professional markets for certain types of goods, and many alleys are also named after this, such as the iron pot alley, the sow alley, the boat board alley, etc.

The street was full of people, cars and horses were jammed, and Chen Xin and the four of them were blocked several times. "Your mother, it's good to have chengguan." After Chen Xin was blocked by several carriages again, he cursed in his heart, and even returned to the Ming Dynasty to get stuck in traffic. Several people managed to squeeze through from both sides, and finally entered the inner city after being blocked in the doorway for a while.

Just breathed a sigh of relief, but I didn't know that the Chongwenmen Street in front of me was also crowded, and the groups of people saw Chen Xin's headache, and turned his head to ask Song Wenxian: "Mr. Song, where are you going?" ”

Song Wenxian rubbed the fine sweat on his forehead: "I went to Dongtangzi Hutong, so I had to walk along this street." ”

Chen Xin had no concept of these alleys, so he thought about it and asked, "Where is the place where there are many officials?" ”

"If Brother Chen wants to inquire about the Na level, it is better to go to Qipan Street, where the military headquarters is west of Daming Gate (in front of the current ** square), where there are many officials." Song Wenxian said and pointed to the front, "Go west in Dongjiaomi Lane in front of you, and you will be able to reach Daming Gate." ”

Chen Xin separated from Song Wenxian in Dongjiaomi Lane and went west. The Dongjiaomi Lane he walked was later the famous Dongjiaomin Lane, just here more than two hundred years later, after the "Qing Dynasty" declared war with the eleven countries very creatively, sent tens of thousands of people to attack the embassies of various countries, and what was more creative was that in the face of hundreds of foreign soldiers, tens of thousands of people fought for two months and did not fight down, and they sent water and food to people while fighting. The attack on the embassy district is already unprecedented, and I am afraid that it will be desperate if it is not defeated. Every time Chen Xin thinks of these things that "I Daqing" did, he is angry.

At present, Dongjiao Rice Lane is just an alley, because the original grain is collected by the river here, so it is called such a name, the road is as wide as the street of Tianjin, there are many rice grain stores on both sides, and there are people on the road, several people go all the way west along Dongjiao Rice Lane, this trip is about two or three miles down, and after walking, they will arrive outside the Daming Gate.

"Damn, you've finally arrived at the place." Chen Xin walked a few miles and sweated, and finally walked out of the alley, this is the chessboard street, look around, the short chessboard street street is very wide, the south is the magnificent Zhengyang Gate, the north is the imposing Daming Gate, the east and west sides are full of shops, what makes Chen Xin dumbfounded is that there are more people than Chongwenmen.

"Brother Chen, Qipan Street is the most prosperous place in Jingshi." Dai Zhenggang said behind him, "I've heard it when I pulled the fiber, and you said how famous you are." ”

Chen Xin nodded, no wonder the Beijing hukou is valuable, it turns out that there are many people in the Ming Dynasty. He looked at the obscene Daming Gate, just like a large mountain temple, behind the door with a red wall enclosed a long strip-shaped thousand-step corridor, the end of the thousand-step corridor is the later **, but it is not the emperor's residence, just the entrance to the imperial city. On both sides of the thousand-step corridor is the core power department of the Ming court, where the six departments, the five armies are governors, and the Jinyi Guard.

Chen Xin saw that it was almost lunch time at this time, so he chose a mid-range restaurant to go in, and asked for a table to sit at in the hall. Chen Xin's restaurant was also quickly filled, and the lobby was full of noise.

There were two people sitting behind Chen Xin, but they were not wearing official uniforms, Chen Xin didn't care, he just listened to the officials around him talking, but they were all out of tune, and he was disappointed, and suddenly heard the conversation between the two behind him suddenly a little louder.

“…… The jackal is in charge, how can he avoid it, the Holy Son of Heaven is in power, and I wait for the protégé of the Son of Heaven to say nothing, and who else to treat. Right now, Lu Wanling, the scum, has been imprisoned, and he is just hitting it with a drum. ”

Chen Xin's attention immediately focused on him, Dai Zhenggang and Zhu Guobin were really unaware of it, and seriously dealt with the food in front of them.

I only heard another person whisper: "Brother Qian, don't raise your voice, why do I insist on blocking you today, Brother Qian has forgotten the matter of the six gentlemen of Donglin, how can Tian Ergeng and Xu Xianchun under the factory ministers be idle, the affairs of the court, there are cabinet princes, and there are officials and imperial histories, and we are not in their positions......"

The previous Brother Qian interrupted him: "Wei Zhongxian has one hand to block the sky, fights horses and reprimands, poisons the gentry, and the manlian scholars, and destroys the shame of the world." The wind of the world is gradually declining, and there is nothing more than this. ”

Another person persuaded anxiously: "The Manchu Dynasty knows that on the 24th of last month, the right deputy of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Du Yushi Yang, impeached the soldier Cui and was reprimanded by the emperor. ”

"Yang Xiu impeached four people, Cui Chengxiu is only one of them, and his impeachment is not a love system, itching across the boots, how not to be reprimanded, Cui Chengxiu is his own soldier, his brother is the chief soldier, when will there be such an example in my dynasty, more hateful, with the respect of Shangshu, recognize a eunuch as a father, it is really a Sven mourning, if I go to the book, I should go straight to Huanglong and impeach Wei Zhongxian."

"Lord Zhou and Eunuch Wang resigned, and the emperor also kept them one by one, and it can be seen that the emperor still wants to reuse the ministers, if you don't know the holy will, and rush to the book, I am afraid that there will be something unbearable."

The "Brother Qian" was silent for a moment and then said: "What is the matter with us reading the books of the sages, not to seek the glory of the ancestors and the supreme ministers, but to establish a heart for heaven and earth, to establish a life for the people, to continue to learn for the saints, and to open peace for all generations." Brother Yan's good intentions are in his heart, but this matter is imperative, and he has no words. ”

"Brother Qian, have you ever thought that our prisoners do not have the right to write the book, if you violate the rules of the book, even if the luck of inviting heaven to participate in that person, you will not be able to escape the responsibility, why bother."

Brother Qian did not hesitate, and his tone was firm: "The tiger and wolf eat people, and they should fight with their bare hands, and they don't say anything, but they say it recklessly, thinking that they are loyal and righteous, although they die, what a pity!" What a sense of culpability! (Note 1)

Brother Yan sighed and stopped persuading him.

Chen Xin didn't look back, this Brother Qian is not afraid of death, quite a bit of the strength of those officials in the Wanli period, for the belief in his heart, he can live without his life, and it doesn't work at all for them to kill chickens and make an example of monkeys, this kind of person can't be persuaded by common sense, and you can't stop Brother Yan's tongue from blooming lotus.

Today is already the ninth day of the first month of October, and Chen Xin knows that Wei Zhongxian will be finished this year, which means that time is running out. Listening to what the two of them said just now, the courtiers aimed at Cui Chengxiu, Cui Chengxiu was Wei Zhongxian's biggest helper in the outer court, and he was also the secretary of the military department, and the direction of the wind was unknown at the moment, everyone did not dare to directly confront Wei Zhongxian, this Cui Chengxiu became the best target, and it was used to test the emperor's intentions.

A group of officials quickly finished eating, went back to the ministries, Chen Xin was no longer interested in staying, went out, saw that Zhengyang Gate was closed, had to follow the same way back, all the way to the west, and went to the lamp market near Chongwen Gate for a turn, before returning to the inn.

Before dinner, Song Wenxian came back with a relaxed face. When he arrived at Chen Xin's house, he told Chen Xin about the news he inquired about, "Brother Chen, I went to find a former colleague today, he is now a housekeeper for a Beijing official, he said that before Xizong died, he also promoted Master Cui to his own soldier, and now the emperor has a lot of trust in Jiu Qian-sui, and Jingshi seems to be peaceful." Song Wenxian said with a relaxed face.

"The emperor ascended the throne on August 24, and the factory minister resigned on the first day of September, but the emperor did not approve it. Lord Cui of the Ministry of War, Lord Zhou of the Ministry of Officials (Zhou Yingqiu), and Eunuch Wang of the Ministry of Ceremonies (Wang Tiqian) resigned, but the emperor did not approve it. Not only that, the eunuch Wang and the factory ministers also each have a son of Jinyi Wei to command the affairs, it is said that Xizong died before the emperor told the emperor to reuse the factory ministers, now it seems that you are worried that you will stop the level should not be, but since it is here, the matter of the level is still done quickly. ”

Chen Xin walked slowly back and forth in the room. Song Wenxian's news of coming back from inquiring was obviously more reliable than what Qin Lufang heard in the teahouse and vegetable market.

Song Wenxian is very optimistic, but Chen Xin naturally knows that Chongzhen will not let Wei Zhongxian go, Chen Xin's goal is to profit from the reverse case, gain Chongzhen's attention, and make a fortune in the future, but once the operation is not good, it is also very dangerous, Chongzhen's strategy is to stabilize Wei Zhongxian first, and then boil the frog in warm water, this heat is Chongzhen's own control, if he suddenly goes to play with fire, it is not good to disrupt Chongzhen's steps, not to cook Wei Zhongxian, but to put himself in. Before Xizong's death, he suddenly appointed Cui Chengxiu as the secretary of the military department, which must have been out of Wei Zhongxian's intentions, but it can be seen that Wei Zhongxian was also prepared, and he would fight with Chongzhen if he didn't agree with him.

Originally, he planned to bribe Wen Tiren and give him a gift of a few thousand taels of silver, and by the way, he could get some information about the government, Wen Tiren was the longest one in Chongzhen's years, and he didn't step down until Chongzhen ten years ago, and it was good for him to make friends early, although this person entered the traitorous minister's biography, but what did it matter to Chen Xin, it was always cost-effective to send silver before he gained power, but it was a pity that Qin Lufang didn't hear that there was such a person in Jingshi, and then asked Song Wenxian to ask, it turned out that he was still in Nanzhili.

Chen Xin glanced at Song Wenxian, this bad scholar is not the same heart as himself, so he doesn't dare to discuss these things with him, if he is determined to do it with himself, he is a good military advisor. If it weren't for the interests of Haimao, this bad scholar would probably not bother to look at himself.

"Mr. Song is reasonable, but since the matter of accepting the level does not stop, it can be postponed for a few days, and I will wait for a rare time to come to Jingshi, so I will play around the neighborhood and do it slowly."

Song Wenxian was not in a hurry at this time, and listened: "What kind of play does this Jingshi have, if Brother Chen wants to see the shops, just say it." ”

Chen Xin didn't explain, and said with a smile: "I really want to look at the shops, I don't want the Japanese goods in the future, and there is no need to use the Japanese knife, just in Beijing to see if there are other ways." "The profit on this property is too low, and it sells slowly, so it's okay if you don't do it, and I'll help you take a look everywhere."

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Note 1: Qian Jiazheng said the original words, it is said that this person is the twenty-fourth grandson of King Wu Yue, after Cui Chengxiu was dismissed, he wrote a letter to denounce Wei Zhongxian's ten major crimes as a prisoner of the country, and provided Chongzhen with the most important cannonballs. Whether he is right to impeach Wei Zhongxian for these crimes, let's not talk about it for the time being, what is certain is that he is not driven by interests, and this kind of literati arrogance and not afraid of death is worth admiring, so let him appear here.