Nanjing, November 2, 1727.

A cold autumn rain that lasted for several days suddenly brought the bustling city of Nanjing into the early winter, drizzling and mist rising, plunging the whole city into a hazy and psychedelic scene.

Countless people are looking for livelihoods in the cold and rain, stockpiling the necessary supplies for the coming winter.

At this time, the house of the wealthy gentry in the capital ushered in a bumper harvest, and the housekeepers and tenants sent a large number of silver dollars and goods in accordance with the regulations.

Deer, roe deer, roe deer, porcupine, bear paws from Liaodong, pheasants and rabbits from Huainan, deer tendons, sea cucumbers and hazelnuts from North Korea, rice from Changzhou, roasted charcoal from Taipingfu, silk and fine cotton ...... from Jiangnan, provide the daily diet and festive banquets of the whole family of the gentry.

Under many complicated etiquette, they not only follow the traditional etiquette, but also follow their own preferences due to their different generations. The lady from a wealthy family will reward the maid with a few delicious dishes, and even roast a few sweet potatoes and stew a few chestnuts in order to pursue a bit of wild fun.

At noon, in the courtyard of Changxing Hou Kang Wenrui's deep house, there was an uproar, and the maids and maids gathered together to discuss the practice of a salt-bud stewed egg, which was named by the lady in the house to eat.

The chef in the house first takes the tip of the Longjing tea after the Qingming rain and soaks it in warm water, then removes the tea stems, retains only the tea buds, grinds them carefully, puts them into a white jade porcelain bowl, beats the eggs, pours the water and mixes thoroughly, puts them into the cage drawer made of green bamboo, and steams them slowly over a fine fire. During this period, people should not leave the stove, they must keep checking and choosing the right time to stop the fire, otherwise the stewed eggs will not be able to achieve the best flavor or too old or too tender, and it will make the young lady angry.

Finally, small grinding sesame oil, fine salt, balsamic vinegar, green garlic adjust the toppings, and put a small dish aside, the golden stewed egg reveals the silk and green of Longjing tea.

From such a simple stewed egg, it can be seen that the wealth and luxury of the Changxing Marquis Mansion, the food of the owners is extremely exquisite, exquisite and unique, and the food is a real enjoyment on the tip of the tongue here.

However, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, when the masters were eating desserts, drinking tea, chatting and gossiping, a team of heavily armed royal guards suddenly surrounded the entire Hou Mansion, and a eunuch from the inner court Imperial Horse Prison broke into the hall with the emperor's edict surrounded by more than ten forbidden soldiers.

"Your Majesty's edict said: The Queen Mother is seriously ill, the country is in solidarity, stop singing and stopping the banquet, in order to comfort the saint, but the Marquis of Changxing indulges in pleasure and blasphemes the royal family, and his actions deceive the monarch and discredit the holy order. …… On the other hand, the Marquis of Changxing served as the capital supervisor of the mountain tomb, slacked off his duties, used his power for personal gain, formed a party and slacked his duties, and the corpse was vegetarian, and he disrespected the temple and society, and his actions could be punished. This edict gave the Marquis of Changxing and the closed door to apologize for their crimes with death, and all the property in the house was filled into the treasury. …… Chin Zhi! ”

"Your Majesty, the minister has been wronged!" Kang Wenrui, Marquis of Changxing, immediately collapsed to the ground and cried loudly, "The minister wants to enter the palace to face the king, and the minister wants to see the queen mother." …… The minister is wronged! ”

"Marquis Changxing, leave yourself a decent face." The eunuch who announced the decree said coldly: "Your Majesty is busy with state affairs, how can you have time to wait for you!" ”

"Minister...... Wronged! Kang Wenrui knelt on the ground and continued to say in a sad voice: "Your Majesty issued a decree, has you ever obtained the permission of the Queen Mother?" ”

"Marquis Changxing, are you doing death?" When the eunuch heard this, his face immediately changed.

"The Queen Mother ......, the Queen Mother has already ......, and the Queen Mother has passed away?" Kang Wenrui suddenly understood, "Yes, if the Queen Mother is still here, Your Majesty would dare to do this?" ”

"Please Changxinghou on the road!" The eunuch was afraid that Kang Wenrui would say some nonsense again, and they would be in unpredictable danger.

"Hehe......" Kang Wenrui smiled sadly, "I regret that I shouldn't have listened to the Queen Mother's words and went to Qi for refuge early." Your Majesty really can't tolerate my family? If you really want to talk about the relationship between relatives and relatives, I am the queen mother......"

"Shut his mouth!" The eunuch stretched out his hand and shouted at the forbidden army behind him: "Everyone is all silent!" …… Send them on their way! ”

As soon as the words fell, more than a dozen soldiers of the forbidden army rushed over like wolves, pressed the Changxinghou family who were kneeling on the ground to the ground, crossed their hands, directly removed their chins, and choked their mouths with strips of cloth to prevent them from saying half a sentence.

"Your Majesty has confessed, and everyone will keep all the corpses." The eunuch was already dripping with sweat on his forehead, and he couldn't help but reach out and wipe it, "Drag everyone to the inner house and give them a decent look." ”

"Yes, Superintendent."

The soldiers of the forbidden army rudely dragged the crying and screaming Changxing Marquis family towards the inner house, and some vulgar soldiers also made some beautiful female dependents in the process of dragging, causing them to scream again and again.

"All the property in the house is sealed, and no one is allowed to touch it in vain." The eunuch said fiercely: "No wonder our family didn't remind you, everything here must be filled into the royal treasury, if anyone's hands and feet are not clean, and the flow is 10,000 li, it is light." Your Majesty is furious, not only will your life be at risk, but you will also bring disaster to your family! ”

"Yes, Overseer!" When the soldiers of the forbidden army and the officials and scribes who confiscated and registered the property of the Marquis of Changxing Mansion heard this, their scalps immediately tightened, and they suddenly agreed.

"A few of you, go with our family to the house and study of the Marquis of Changxing, and take some secret documents that should not be leaked back to the palace."

"Yes, Superintendent."

The eunuch exhaled a long breath, his expression unusually solemn.

It's not easy to do this errand!

——

At the moment of unitary, in the majestic and profound Wuying Hall of the Forbidden City, more than ten oil lamps have been lit, and the refreshing sandalwood rises faintly, under the illumination of a pillar of light, making the hall full of gauze tents and heavy figures.

Wang Degui, the chief eunuch of the inner court, entered the hall lightly, and several little eunuchs waiting at the door saw it, and immediately bowed down to salute, but did not dare to speak, for fear of disturbing His Majesty in the room.

Wang Degui looked inside, and then turned his head to look at a handsome little eunuch standing next to the pillar.

The little eunuch had a wry smile on his face and shook his head slightly.

"Who's outside the temple?" A majestic and deep voice came from within.

"Your Majesty, the minister King Degui knocks to see you." Wang Degui promised in his mouth, hurriedly walked in, and knelt down at the door.

"What?" Emperor Sun Hongxiang of the Qianyuan Dynasty gently closed the fold in his hand and raised his head to look at the door.

"Back to Your Majesty, Zhang Chengyong has finished his errand, and he is in the palace gate." Wang Degui lowered his head and said softly.

"Oh, all the mess cleaned up?"

"Zhang Chengyong didn't dare to be self-absorbed and ...... everything Brought back. ”

"Huh? …… Is this guy going to hand it over to me to deal with when he brings things back? ”

"......" Wang Degui heard this, his scalp tightened, and he didn't know how to answer. Then he knocked his head heavily and lay on the ground, and he didn't dare to make a sound.

"Humph!" Emperor Qianyuan snorted coldly, and the air in the entire hall suddenly became a little tense and dignified.

"Let Zhang Chengyong burn everything that can't be seen, and then go to Qixia Mountain to supervise the construction of Zhaoling."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wang Degui breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, Zhang Chengyong's future was gone, but after all, he saved his life.

For the sake of the king's worries, where can this degree be grasped steadily?

"Get up, there's no stove burning in this hall, don't let your old bones be cold."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"What time is it?"

"Three quarters of the unitary." Wang Degui replied: "Your Majesty, do you need to pass the meal?" ”

"Well, I'm really a little hungry when I say that." Emperor Qianyuan nodded, "Let's pass the meal." ”

"Pass the meal!" A smile appeared on Wang Degui's face.

Since His Majesty wants to eat, presumably Fang Cai's unhappiness should be exposed. In this way, the entire inner court can be relaxed for a while.

With a decree to pass the meal, it passed through the layers of palace doors and reached the imperial dining room. More than a dozen neatly dressed eunuchs immediately put the meals that were kept hot and warm at all times on the three dining tables and carried them straight to the Wuying Palace.

Subsequently, stewed bird's nest with rock sugar, stir-fried pork with autumn bamboo shoots, shredded duck with bird's nest, fried chicken home-style chowder hot pot, stewed pork with evergreen greens, bamboo roll and small steamed buns and other colorful dim sum, steamed rice with pearl fragrance, porridge, etc., a total of more than 30 dishes filled the table.

Several of the little eunuchs who were close to each of them took a delicate plate, carefully sandwiched a little on each dish, swallowed it quickly, and then bowed to the side, standing still.

Wang Degui carefully wiped the tableware and dishes with cotton towels several times, and then placed them in front of Emperor Qianyuan one by one, waiting for His Majesty to eat.

"I heard that Emperor Taiping of Qi only had three or five dishes a day, but is it true?" After taking two bites, Emperor Qianyuan held his chopsticks and suddenly asked.

"Your Majesty, the words of the people of Qi may not be true." Wang Degui's eyelids jumped a few times, and he hurriedly bowed down and responded: "Even if their Taiping Emperor wants to sell his reputation and reputation again to show frugality, but as the monarch of a big country, how can he be like an ordinary farmer, eat three meals and only a few dishes?" ”

"Can an ordinary farmer have three meals?" Emperor Qianyuan looked at the three dining tables full of dishes in front of him and sighed, "I'm afraid that most of the people of Great Qin have not had three full meals, and in the catastrophic years, there will be no shortage of starvation. ”

"Your Majesty......"

"That's it." Emperor Qianyuan shook his head, raised his chopsticks and continued to eat, "After a while, you will hand over the excerpt of the relief after the typhoon in Yizhou (now Taiwan) to the household department, and order it to be processed expeditiously, and it must not be delayed." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wang Degui praised from the bottom of his heart: "Your Majesty is kind and sage, and you always care about the lives of the people, which is really the blessing of my Great Qin!" ”

"Wang Degui, your sycophants are getting worse and worse." Emperor Qianyuan said jokingly.

"Your Majesty, what the old slave said came from the bottom of his heart, and he never meant to welcome the horse."

"Come on. This will start calling itself an old slave again, do you want to show your love for me? ”

"Old slave...... The minister didn't dare. ”

"Your Majesty......"

As he was talking, a little eunuch outside the hall hurriedly came in, knelt on the ground, and reported: "Your Majesty, the inner eunuch of the Flying Dragon Hall has come to report that the Queen Mother has woken up." ”

"Huh?" Emperor Qianyuan threw the chopsticks in his hand on the dining table, Huo Ran got up, "The Queen Mother's illness is ...... Good? ”

"Your Majesty......" The little eunuch showed a frightened look on his face, "The inner supervisor who reported the news said that the Queen Mother Chitose is afraid that it will be ...... I'm afraid it's back to the light......"

After speaking, he fell to the ground and kowtowed vigorously.

"Go to the Flying Dragon Palace." Emperor Qianyuan raised his feet and walked towards the outside of the hall.

"Your Majesty, drive the Flying Dragon Palace!" Wang Degui shouted loudly, then took two steps, and followed behind Emperor Qianyuan step by step.

Flying Dragon Palace, face wide nine rooms, the base of the hall has the wall of the heavenly palace, the Buddha shrine is hidden inside, and the inner garden is the back. Since Emperor Qianyuan came into power, the Queen Mother moved her residence here. In the following ten years, the royal family repeatedly expanded the palace, adding many scenery, planting many flowers and trees, and connecting the surrounding palace and gardens to create an extremely luxurious and comfortable palace.

Since March this year, in the warm and cold spring season, the Queen Mother accidentally contracted the wind chill and was bedridden. Although he has been carefully treated and conditioned by many imperial doctors, his body has not fully recovered.

In July, the Queen Mother's condition suddenly worsened, she fainted several times, and became unconscious. The imperial doctor in the palace tried his best, acupuncture, massage, and feeding several thousand-year-old ginseng, which finally stabilized the queen mother's condition a little and regained a trace of consciousness. However, the illness is difficult to go, he has lost his mobility, and he has been suffering from compassion, whether it is eating or excreting, he cannot take care of himself, and needs to be served by the palace maid.

Everyone knows that the Queen Mother, with a high life expectancy of seventy and eight, may have reached the time when the oil runs out and the lamp runs out, and the limit has come. Both inside and outside the court, they all sighed and sighed silently in their hearts, an era is about to end.

Speaking of the queen mother, whether it is her supporters or her opponents, they can't help but praise the "female Zhongyao Shun".

When the Xinyou Palace changed, if it weren't for the fact that the empress dowager from the Qi State was criss-crossed, strategized, and united many new and old ministers to smash the rebellion of King Yi in one fell swoop, and supported the thirteen-year-old Emperor Qianyuan to ascend the throne, maybe my Great Qin would be a different appearance now.

Because the emperor was young, the queen mother became a regent and started a five-year period of ruling the world with the ministers of Great Qin.

During the regent period of the Empress Dowager, she was self-disciplined, honest and self-serving, and fair, and used a large number of capable ministers and virtuous officials, which made the entire court relatively clear, and swept away the chaotic and corrupt situation in the Chengde period.

If the Empress Dowager only has political skills to subdue the ministers, then she can only maintain the political situation of our Great Qin from collapsing, so as to pass through five years smoothly and transfer the power to the pro-government Emperor Qianyuan.

However, the empress dowager was very clever in governing the country, and started a vigorous new policy innovation in the Qin State.

She first set up Denglai and Songjiang as the so-called "economic innovation zones", listed them as the imperial court and directly subordinate to the imperial court, and implemented different economic and governance methods from Daqin, introduced various industrial production and manufacturing of Qi State, encouraged industry and commerce, and vigorously expanded foreign trade.

She also opened a new school under the supervision of Guozi, and recruited students and scholars to study "Qi State Miscellaneous Studies" and study all kinds of "strange skills and tricks".

What's more, in addition to the annual imperial examination, another new examination is set up, not to the Four Books and Five Classics as a model, but to assess all kinds of miscellaneous studies, once a certain subject is "in the middle", all awarded the Nine Grades of Engineering and Learning, and enter the Ministry of Workers, the Ministry of Households, the Criminal Department, as well as the government-run workshops and mines, just like the former Song Dynasty system, to select all kinds of special talents.

In terms of military affairs, he imitated the model of Qi and established a military academy in Nanjing to train new-style officers.

In the twenty-second year of the Qianyuan Dynasty (1704), the merchants of Qi in Dengzhou wanted to invest in the construction of a railway, which caused more and more discussion inside and outside the court, and there were many objections.

However, the empress dowager, who had returned to power under Emperor Qianyuan at that time, rarely intervened and persuaded Emperor Qianyuan to allow the merchants of Qi to build railways and give various preferential conditions.

The first railway in Daqin, under the strong intervention of the Queen Mother, was successfully completed and opened to traffic in less than two years.

The benefits brought by the railway, which everyone has witnessed, not only accelerate the efficiency of the flow of people and goods between different places, but also play a positive effect on the effective control of the local government by the central government.

While everyone was cheering, they also admired the far-reaching vision of the Queen Mother.

Just when the Qin State was ready to rivet all their strength, after the Jiangnan Railway was completed and opened to traffic, they carried out the climax of railway construction in China, but they were embarrassed to find that the money in the treasury could not support the imperial court to build too many railways.

The Dzungar War, the migration of Liaodong to Shibian, the pacification of Qinghai Rebellion, the encirclement of Wusizang, the transformation of the southwest region, and the natural disasters that broke out from time to time all made Daqin's finances always on the verge of collapse.

The construction of a large railway like Qi seems to be really unsustainable.

The Empress Dowager once again suggested to Emperor Qianyuan that the right to operate railways in some areas could be liberalized, just like the railways built by Qi in Shandong, and private merchant capital could be introduced. For the construction of railways in remote areas but with high strategic value, you can borrow money from Qi to build roads.

As a result, the railway construction of Daqin began to develop rapidly, and over the past 20 years, the cumulative mileage of more than 1,400 kilometers has been opened to traffic, which has greatly improved the transportation conditions in some areas of the territory.

It can be said that it was the Empress Dowager's regent and auxiliary government (after Emperor Qianyuan's pro-government, the Empress Dowager continued to serve as an auxiliary government for nearly ten years) that through reform and innovation, she vigorously promoted the new policy and promoted a large number of promising officials, which laid a solid foundation for our Great Qin, thus providing strong financial resources and strong industrial support for the expulsion of Qing captives, repeated defeats of Dzungaria, and subjugation of Wusizang.

However, the years are ruthless and urging people to grow old, and the empress dowager of the Great Qin, who is benevolent and virtuous, wise and open-minded, is already ill and dying, which makes the entire royal family fall into sorrow, and the ministers in the court and the central government also express their grief.

At the end of the day, the Queen Mother woke up from her slumber, and after drinking a small sip of ginseng soup, her spirits were slightly lifted, and she ordered someone to summon the emperor to see her.

"The Emperor ...... Today Kill Changxinghou? The Empress Dowager Qi Ziyi's face was pale and angry, but her tone was extremely stern and asked, "You...... How can that! ”

That's your half-brother after all!

"I don't want the former Qin Zhi's affair to repeat itself in my Great Qin." Emperor Qianyuan first turned his head and glared fiercely at the eunuchs and palace maids who were standing around, then bowed down, lowered his voice, and said word by word.

"The Emperor thinks I'm ...... Zhao Ji? The Queen Mother Qi Ziyi's face was full of pain.

"......" Emperor Qianyuan was indifferent.

"This Great Qin has not become a ...... after all ...... in my heart Daqin. A string of tears flowed from the corners of the Empress Dowager Qi Ziyi's eyes, "This Daqin is not as good as having a ...... for me Qi country. ”

"Queen Mother, in time, my Great Qin will definitely surpass the Qi Kingdom." Emperor Qianyuan frowned, and said in a firm tone.

"Did the emperor think about it all the time...... Want to challenge the Qi Kingdom? The Empress Dowager Qi Ziyi tilted her head slightly, looked at the ambitious Emperor Qianyuan, and sighed, "You ...... No, no. ”

(End of chapter)