Three days later, Ruan Yuan, who returned home from duty, was told by his wife Jiang that a businessman named Xu from Shanghai had handed over a letter and several packages of Yangzhou local products during the day, saying that he would be on the second floor of Zhengyang Building tomorrow night.
There are seats in the private room, please appreciate it.
Ruan Yuan was shocked after hearing this. The surname Xu, Shanghai, and Yangzhou local products were all secret codes told to him by the previous shopkeeper of "Huang Shengtai". Once someone posted these three words, it meant that someone from Beihai Town was here.
"Master, what's going on?" Looking at her husband's dazed look, Jiang felt a little strange.
"Oh, I remembered it! Brother Zhongzi wrote a letter during the May Festival, mentioning that a relative named Xu was coming to donate an official position, and asked me to help take care of him." Ruan Yuan pretended to explain, this kind of
If something can be concealed, it is better to conceal it first, lest the family members worry about losing their position and exposing themselves in front of outsiders.
The "Zhongzi" mentioned by Ruan Yuan is named Ling Tingkan. He was from Shexian County, Anhui Province, and he was also a guy who was frustrated in the imperial examination. The two have known each other for ten years and are considered close friends. In addition to Ruan Yuan, Ling Tingkan also has other people in Yangzhou.
There are two very close friends, one is Wang Zhong and the other is named Jiang Fan.
After hearing this, Mr. Jiang suddenly said: "Since the relationship is like this, it's not a good idea to push him down. I'd better go see him."
The next day, Ruan Yuan was busy in the south study room until the end of Shen Dynasty before leaving. He first went home and changed into casual clothes, then took his personal servant with him and rushed to the front door in a mule cart. In the Qing Dynasty, the official summer duty of the Qing Dynasty was Shen Dynasty.
Right - that is, four o'clock in the afternoon, one hour earlier in winter; as for work time, hey, it's five o'clock in the morning, basically you have to leave the house at three o'clock at night.
Zhengyang Building is located on the west grinding factory street outside Qianmen, a stone's throw away from Qianmen. It is a restaurant that mainly sells barbecue, which is similar to the "barbeque season" in later generations. Although it is not far from Liulichang, where Ruan Yuan's family is located, it can
He has never been here because he is not used to eating beef and mutton.
According to market rumors, more than 20 years ago, Emperor Qianlong once ate crabs here, which made him famous. After that, Zhengyang Tower added a crab feast, and the business became more and more prosperous.
The mule cart stopped at the entrance of the restaurant. Ruan Yuan got out of the cart and saw a three-bay facade in front of him. Five huge red lanterns were hung under the angled eaves. Looking up, the three floors were covered with a mountain-style roof.
, looks very magnificent.
The guy who was in charge of the door, "Liao Gao'er," saw countless people every day. Although Ruan Yuan only wore a moon-white bamboo cloth gown, he couldn't hide the magnanimity he had cultivated in the Hanlin Academy, so he stepped forward and bowed.
He said kindly: "Sir, please come in."
In some so-called "Beijing-style" restaurants in later generations, as soon as guests arrive at the door, a waiter will shout loudly: "You two! Please come inside!" The sound is so loud that it scares people to death. In fact, this is all fake folk customs, and it is serious.
Our restaurants and restaurants don’t do this.
After entering, I saw that the hall on the first floor was full of guests. There were six vermilion paint pillars in the building and more than a dozen Eight Immortals tables. There was a stage to the north. Although the sun had not set outside, because of the lack of light, the two lights were still on.
There are more than a dozen spotlights and lamps hanging on the pillars, illuminating it brightly.
Someone was singing on the stage at this time, but the song was not the popular Hui tune, but something called "Zidi Shu". The singer held an octagonal drum with copper plates inlaid on it, and shook it
There was a rustling sound, and there was another person sitting next to him, playing the three-stringed string. When the person opened his mouth, the tune was relaxing and his voice was loud.
"Sure, you seduced Qiuxiang secretly without telling me. You must love her naughty feet. Mr. Xu blushed and said it was nonsense. Madam, you are here to be mean to us. Let's see what Qiuxiang looks like. That's not like Sun Dasheng's aunt Zhu Bajie's mother. The lady sneered and said that he was still adamant. As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Master Xu shook his head and said that it was unreasonable. At such an old age, he really didn't care about anything. He was not afraid of talking nonsense. People laughed at me. Madam laughed and said, "Don't be fooled..."
While listening and walking, Ruan Yuan had already gone up to the second floor, and shopkeeper Dong from Huang Shengtai had already come out. They exchanged greetings for a while, and shopkeeper Dong first asked the head of the hall to take Ruan Yuan's entourage to the first floor to eat and drink, and then led the court to the next floor. Walk to the private room.
When passing by the private room next door, shopkeeper Dong told Ruan Yuan in a low voice that in order to prevent the partition wall from having ears, the two adjacent private rooms on the left and right were all private rooms, and the people sitting there were all his own people.
As soon as I entered the door and raised the curtain, I saw that the Eight Immortals table was covered with dishes. There was a man standing by the window. He turned around when he heard the sound. This man was not tall, with a dark and thin face, but his eyes were He is bright and energetic, with a neatly trimmed jet black mustache. He is wearing a gray poplin robe and a black satin waistcoat, and is holding a Xiang Fei bamboo fan in his hand.
"My Excellency, Xu Dachun, I have admired Mr. Boyuan's name for a long time! I often heard it mentioned by Mr. Wang and Mr. Jiang before." After all, the capital city is the hinterland of the Qing Dynasty, so Xu Dayong did not use his real name.
As soon as Ruan Yuan heard the other party speak, he knew that this person was not a scholar, so he smiled and cupped his hands and said, "I'm really offended by keeping Mr. Xu waiting for so long."
Shopkeeper Dong smiled and said: "Mr. Boyuan, where do you start with these words? We are all outsiders. Please take a seat."
After a long while of humility, Xu Dayong finally took the main seat. After the three of them were seated, Shopkeeper Dong raised his glass and said, "Mr. Boyuan is here to honor me today, and Brother Xu has come all the way. It's a rare gathering. What can I say?" I want to ask, Mr. Boyuan, please don’t worry. Let me propose a toast to both of you and wish you success!"
The three of them each toasted a glass of wine and started talking more. Ruan Yuan then asked shopkeeper Dong: "What is the name of the song just sung downstairs? I have never heard it before."
Shopkeeper Dong smiled and explained: "This is called the children's book, and it is the most popular among the bannermen's children in the capital. In the past few days, "The Peach Blossom Fan" has not been allowed to be performed, and several other plays have also been stopped. I guess the shopkeeper's To be on the safe side, I found another person. What he just sang was "Stealing Armor" from Water Margin. Did you see the drum in his hand? There are three copper plates inlaid on each of the seven sides, which means the seven flag colors. They represent Manchu, Mongolian and Han respectively, and the end with the long spike in his hand is the flag he is on."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Ruan Yuan nodded slightly after hearing this, recalling that the octagonal drum in the hands of the man on the stage did look like this.
Xu Dayong said: "Old Dong, you said the singer was a banner man? How come the banner men got into this position? This is the city of Beijing, under the emperor's feet!"
Shopkeeper Dong smiled and said: "You are really pretending to be confused because you understand."
Xu Dayong shook his head and said: "Haha, where do you start talking about this? I really don't know."
"If not," Shopkeeper Dong raised his finger and pointed to the north, then continued: "Now that the imperial court is using troops and the Han troops who had previously sent banners have returned to the Eight Banners, the money and food expenses have skyrocketed. I heard that the Ministry of Internal Affairs cannot afford so much money and food. I can only give out half of it. Nowadays, the livelihood of the banner people is not easy, so they secretly earn a living by performing arts. Brother Boyuan should be aware of this, right?"
Ruan Yuan shook his head and said: "I am busy editing books every day, and I don't know much about the affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Alas, I didn't expect that this is the situation!"
The three of them chatted for a while, and Xu Dayong saw that the time was almost up, so he said: "Mr. Boyuan, please forgive me, but please return it to me after reading the letter. King Zhao specially told you to be careful in everything, so as not to cause trouble to you.
"
Ruan Yuan nodded slightly, and Xu Dayong took the letter out of his arms and handed it over. When he opened it, his first reaction was that Zhao Wangdian's handwriting was really bad, at the level of a child. But he
What I don’t know is that it is not easy for Zhao Xin to write this hand. He has been practicing it off and on for two years.
Zhao Xin pointed out in the letter that the Manchu Qing Dynasty had only a few years to live. He said that even if Qianlong mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops to march north to Outer Mongolia and asked Agui to lead the army, for the Northern Navy, it would be a piece of cake.
, we will see the result within two months.
Then he explained the reason why he did not send troops to cut off water transportation, or to send troops from Dagukou. In one sentence, it was to stabilize people's livelihood and avoid man-made disasters caused by panic in various places. In the end, it was the common people who were unlucky.
Zhao Xin told Ruan Yuan to make plans early. Although there is a saying among scholar-bureaucrats that "it is not honorable to be honest and it is shameful to lose reputation", but that is not right. A person is often convicted for his words, and even the bones of a scholar are
The Tartar regime that has been interrupted is not worthy of allegiance; the ruler of the world cannot rule alone. You, Ruan Boyuan, serve in the Hanlin Academy. What is the so-called "Man-Han family"? You should be better than me.
More clearly.
Qianlong spent all the money and food in the world to fight Beihai Town, and at the same time spent countless silver to build the Old Summer Palace. These were the blood and sweat of the people, and their purpose was nothing more than to make his family live a comfortable life.
What should the common people do when they are cornered? The root cause of today's corruption in government lies with Qianlong.
Finally, he ended by quoting Gu Yanwu's words: "In the past, Gu Tinglin had a cloud. Today, it is our responsibility to save this people from ashes and create peace for all generations!"
Why did Zhao Xin want to win over Ruan Yuan? Why did Ruan Yuan want to meet Xu Dayong? This matter must start from the negotiation at Dagokou two years ago.
Although Ruan Yuan was frightened out of his mind when he suddenly bumped into his best friend Jiang Fan, he participated in the entire negotiation. From then on, he saw clearly that the imperial court was no match for Beihai Town, and the Manchus would be ousted from the throne of emperor sooner or later.
As a result, Ruan Yuan, who is the intellectual inheritor of Gu Yanwu's lineage, unconsciously came up with the idea of "Hua Yi Debate".
At the time of the revolution between the Ming and Qing dynasties, from Chongzhen, Hongguang to Longwu, although these subjugated kings like Yongli were all confused and cowardly bastards, for the Han officials - especially those from Jiangnan, the Han emperor had the power to control the world.
It is a matter of course. If the emperor is not good enough, then change him. The worst is "change of surname and title"; but when the Manchus came, it was called "leading beasts to eat people", which would destroy the world.
Although Qianlong has pushed himself to the commanding heights of "unity of governance and Taoism" during his reign, using the image of "Confucian scholar" and coupled with literary inquisition to control thoughts has caused scholars to lose the right to interpret "Taoism".
It has only been one hundred and fifty years ago. When the warships of Beihai Town blocked the entrance of Dagu and forced Qianlong to negotiate, when Zhao Xin and Wang Yuanfang turned the city of Yangzhou upside down, especially when they discovered that Wang Zhong
, when Jiao Xun, Zhong Huai, Huang Chengji and others were working for Beihai Town, the "unwilling" fire in the hearts of the Han officials began to rekindle.
Qianlong, who had been dictatorial for more than 50 years, was well aware of the above situations. Ever since Zhao Xin took up the banner of the Qianming Dynasty, he had been paying attention to the movements of the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River. But today is different from the past, and Qianlong could not
Kill the Han people on a large scale, otherwise it will push the Han people to the opposite side.
At the end of the 49th year of Qianlong's reign, just one month after Ruan Yuan returned to the capital from Tianjin, when he returned home from visiting the Liulichang calligraphy and painting shop one day, he was shocked to find a letter in his arms. Waiting for his curiosity
When I opened it, I was immediately frightened to death because the person who wrote the letter turned out to be Wang Zhong Wang Rongfu who had surrendered to Beihai Town.
In the letter, Wang Zhong first congratulated Ruan Yuan for passing the Jinshi examination and praised the other person's talent. Then he used Ruan Yuan's compilation of "Shiqu Baoji" in the Hanlin Academy to mention the "Book of Letters with Ye Tuan" written by Gu Yanwu that year.
", insinuating that Ruan Yuan should not serve the Manchus.
At that time, the Qing government opened the Ming History Museum and wanted to invite Gu Yanwu to take up the post. When Gu Yanwu heard the news, he wrote this letter to Ye Cuan, who was working as a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy in the capital, using the fact that his stepmother, Mrs. Wang, died on a hunger strike to oppose the Qing Dynasty.
The implication is that if I don’t go, if the Qing government dares to force me, I will obey my mother’s dying orders and die!
Then Wang Zhong changed the topic and told Ruan Yuan about what he saw and heard in Beihai Town, and praised Zhao Xinyitong very much. He said that he had the talent to be as talented as Tang Zong and Song Zu. Since he bucked the trend in
Since the Northeast raised troops to rebel against the Qing Dynasty, people's livelihood has always been the priority, which is actually an anomaly in ancient and modern times. In short, Ruan Yuan was advised not to work for the Manchus, but to bring his family and children to join Beihai Town. Ruan Yuan read the letter,
He was burned without saying a word, but he did not report it to the official.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! After more than a month, everything was calm, and Ruan Yuan, who was always in a state of uneasiness, thought that the matter was over. Unexpectedly, within a few days, he actually behaved in the same way again
I received two autographed letters from Jiang Fan and Jiao Xun, the content of which was similar to Wang Zhong's. Especially Jiang Fan's letter specifically mentioned that Zhao Xin valued him very much, so he sincerely solicited him again and again.
You must know that Jiao Xun's wife is Ruan Yuan's cousin, and Jiang Fan and Ruan Yuan have been friends since they were young. The actions of these two people almost made Ruan Yuan's nose angry, and he said to himself that you really don't treat me as an outsider! However,
He was also somewhat proud of himself, as he never expected that he would be favored by King Zhao.
In fact, in addition to Zhao Xin's feeling that Ruan Yuan was young, his thoughts were not so stubborn, and he was prone to U-turns, the more important factor was Ruan Yuan's political experience and conduct in another time and space. This man was the first to see the British clearly when he was the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi.
People's wolfish ambitions are typical of those who fear power rather than virtue; so he built the Humen Fort and banned opium smuggling by merchants. He also wrote a book requesting that foreign cargo ships that trespass into the inner ocean of Guangdong be stopped from trading, cut off their food, and start comprador trading.
Artillery attacks and other measures were taken to punish them, but Jiaqing rejected these requests, which led to opium smuggling becoming more and more rampant.
In addition, Ruan Yuan received three letters without making any announcement. This allowed the Intelligence Bureau to see the opportunity, and then asked shopkeeper Dong to test the contact. After going back and forth, Ruan Yuan also knew what the other party was doing, and asked to see Zhao Xin's autographed letter.
Just fine.
Ruan Yuan read the letter back and forth twice before handing it back to Xu Dayong. He pondered for a long time and said softly: "The King of Zhao values him, but Ruan is not as talented as Mr. Rong Fu, and he does not have the talent of Brother Ziping.
Regardless of all the abilities in the world, what can I do for King Zhao? As for taking his family to Beihai Town, Ruan is really in trouble, so please forgive me, Brother Xu."
Ruan Yuan is no longer an editor of the Hanlin Academy, but a junior officer of Zhan Shifu. He walks in the south study room and his every move is under the eyes of the court. If he dares to run away and defect, Qianlong will be furious and will definitely give Yangzhou
The family and a group of old relatives and friends are in big trouble.
In February this year, the Qing government held the "Grand Examination of Han and Imperial Examinations". Ruan Yuan was promoted to the first place in the first class by Qianlong because of his outstanding literary talent, and he jumped directly from the seventh rank to the rank of fourth rank senior official.
If Beihai Town hadn't appeared, Shao Zhan would have been Zhan Shi, and then he would be sent to study for two terms, and then return to Beijing to be promoted to cabinet bachelor, minister, and minister. If there is a chance to be promoted to the position of cabinet bachelor and minister of rites, that would be the future.
If you become the "Chu Xiang", the "Three Palaces and Three Pavilions" bachelor will definitely not be able to escape.
In the history of another time and space, Ruan Yuan came down step by step like this. During this period, he also served as governor and governor. When he was the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, he formulated a policy of strictly punishing those who dealt in opium until he finally became the governor at the age of seventy.
Le Tirenge Bachelor.
Xu Dayong smiled slightly after hearing this and said politely: "Mr. Boyuan, you are too worried. King Zhao will not force you to go to Beihai Town. I just hope that you can inform Shopkeeper Dong regularly about the big and small movements in the court in the future."
two."
In fact, Zhao Xin did not intend to let Ruan Yuan go to Beihai Town. His idea was to let him be a secret agent. With this person, the movements of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties could be clearly grasped, so as to prevent Qianlong and his son from doing anything wrong.
What a dog-jumping-over-the-wall thing.
Ruan Yuan nodded after hearing this. He could still do this with the effort of a dog and a horse. When Xu Dayong saw it, he was overjoyed and winked at Shopkeeper Dong. So Shopkeeper Dong began to explain to Ruan Yuan one by one how to contact him in the future.
, and how to deliver the message and other details.
While the two were talking, Xu Dayong walked to the window, waving his fan, opened the window and looked at the dark city wall opposite, thinking that it was already his fourth day in Beijing and he had just finished one thing.
I don’t know when I can go back and get engaged with my tea girl.