Nashun was lying under the bed, looking at the bright beam of light in front of him and the gruff "Mr. Nashun" behind the light. He was so frightened that he almost fainted. There was only one thought in his mind: I'm finished.
But there was no gunshot, and he was not dragged out from under the bed. The voice behind the flashlight slowed down and just asked again:
"Sir, are you Nashun? Are you the envoy sent by General Mu Hu?"
Nashun's heart was still beating wildly, but his mind was a little clearer. Hearing that the other party's tone was quite friendly, and his words didn't seem to be malicious, he boldly said in a trembling voice:
"Yes...yes, I am...who are you? You...what are you going to do?"
"Sir, don't ask me who I am," said the voice behind the strong light, "I am just a person who does not want to see new hatred between the Manchu and Han races in the future. Xiang Xiaoqiang, commander of the People's Guard, has already made suggestions to Her Majesty the Queen, considering the future
Drawing on Germany's practice of dealing with Jews, some restrictions were imposed on bannermen in the Ming Dynasty. I can only remember a few specific measures: including prohibiting bannermen from changing their Chinese surnames; imposing taxes three to five times that of Han people; prohibiting bannermen from changing their surnames to Chinese;
Enter high-end public places; let
Banner people must live in special residential areas; Banner people are prohibited from owning single-family houses in the city; and Banner people must be removed from public service, national defense, education, health, press and publishing, finance, commerce and other industries...
Yes, there is another one, prohibiting intermarriage between Manchus and Han... Mr. Nashun, these are just the parts I remember, and there must be more than that. Now Her Majesty the Queen is considering it. With Her Majesty’s favor towards Xiang Xiaoqiang, Mr. Nashun,
You should be able to imagine the results."
Nashun was frightened and said with a trembling voice:
"You...you are talking nonsense, how is this possible...this...this is not realistic at all...you are talking nonsense..."
There was a flurry of footsteps in the corridor again, as if the hotel's electrician was checking the circuit, and there were many guests complaining in the corridor.
The voice behind the strong light seemed a little nervous, and he whispered:
"Mr. Nashun... It's not easy for me to come in once. I can come to you and say these few words, which is the limit of what I can do. As for whether you believe it or not, sir, I can't do anything. I don't ask for anything else, just
I don’t want to see the future Ming Dynasty destroyed in the hands of Xiang Xiaoqiang... Xiang Xiaoqiang went to Germany once, met Hitler, Goebbels, Himmler, and those Nazi leaders, and felt that he had learned how to deal with it.
The experience of the 'lower people', I can't wait to become Himmler of the Ming Dynasty..."
At this time, the footsteps outside the door got closer. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door and said respectfully:
"Sir, have you rested? Do you need a candle?"
The flashlight went out with a bang. Nashun's eyes were completely dark. He could only hear the voice in front of the bed turning around and saying:
"Well, I'm going to bed. I don't want any more candles. Thank you!"
The voice outside the door said:
"Oh, sir, I'm sorry to disturb you. I wish you a good night."
…
His face was pressed against the carpet, and cold sweat poured down his face.
I don’t know how long it took, but suddenly the lights in the room were brightly lit, and everything was bright. There was a small cheer of satisfaction from the corridor, and then the sound of doors closing one after another.
The call came in, and all the guests in the corridor closed their doors and went back to their rooms.
Nashun was still breathing heavily, slowly lifting the sheets in front of his face, and looked out. In the corner of the door, he saw the Dongchang agent who was protecting him leaning crookedly, unconscious.
He swallowed, bravely and slowly got out from under the bed, and looked around the whole room. There was no sign of the third person. Even the windows were closed properly.
Nashun opened the door of the wardrobe, closet, and ensuite bathroom one after another, but no one was there. The person just seemed to have evaporated. It was obvious that the person opened the door after the hotel attendant left, and it was so silent. left.
His whole body felt soft and he sat down on the bed. He looked at his hands and pinched his thighs.
To be honest, if it weren't for the severe pain in his thigh from being pinched by himself, Shun Zhen would have thought he was dreaming just now.
…
At noon the next day, at the official residence of the Chief Minister, Shen Rongxuan entertained his old subordinates: the current director of the East Factory and the former director of the First Bureau, Chen Bingxin, for dinner.
Shen Rongxuan originally thought that he could just send Mu Hu's envoy back and wait for the uprising in Beijing. Unexpectedly, when he got up this morning, he received a report from below, and things took a 180-degree turn. There is a saying that "a toad" Jumping on the feet, not biting, it's disgusting." Now Shen Rongxuan feels this way in his heart. This thing is quite disgusting.
Chen Bingxin reported the incident to Shen Rongxuan while eating.
"... Until now, the agent on duty has not been able to describe the other person's physical characteristics clearly. Because the other party only appeared after the power outage. At that time, the corridor could be said to be pitch black with not much light... He could only recall that the other party was about 1.7 meters tall. , definitely less than 1.8 meters, but not too short... He could vaguely tell that the man seemed to be wearing a hotel attendant's uniform... At that time, he thought there was a power outage and someone else would handle it, so he didn't take much precautions. "
Shen Rongxuan was also eating vegetables and asked:
"Has it been tested? Is it ether?"
"Yes, that's right, medical ether, used in hospitals for general anesthesia. Our operation is outside 'working', and sometimes it is used. The agent thought it was ether at the time, but he didn't struggle twice and fell unconscious. Now we have also tested it, and the residue on his collar is ether... Mr. Shen, we all think it was done by one of our insiders."
Shen Rongxuan raised his eyebrows and looked at him:
"Why? Because it's ether?"
Chen Bingxin nodded and said:
"Yes. Of course Mr. Shen, this is just a superficial analysis by my subordinates. We feel that with the other party's sophistication, they can not use the ether potion, but just hit the neck with a blunt instrument, or directly chop the neck with the palm of their hand. , it can make our people unconscious. It is so clean and fast, and our people have basically no chance to resist. It would be much more troublesome to use ether. You have to carry a potion bottle in your arms, and you have to take it out before taking action. Take out the bottle, open the bottle cap, and pour the ether potion on the handkerchief. This stuff evaporates quickly, so it won't work if you pour it too early or too late. And it smells very strong, and with the series of actions, it might be someone's fault. Discovered... The key thing is that after covering your mouth and nose with an ether handkerchief, it will take several seconds to more than ten seconds to take effect. During this time, our agents may be able to successfully resist.
"So, Mr. Shen, this man made up his mind from the beginning and did not want to hurt anyone - hitting the neck is very simple, but it can easily cause death. He would rather risk failure with ether than use ether that might kill someone. Therefore, we think he may be an insider of ours who does not want to make things big. In addition, he also has feelings for his own people and cannot bear to be cruel. If he is from Beiqing, then he will not care about the death of others. .”
Shen Rongxuan listened to his analysis, nodded and said:
"Well, that makes sense. However, what scope do you mean by 'internal people'? Dongchang?"
Chen Bingxin shook his head and said:
"No, Mr. Shen, when I say 'insider', I just mean that he is not from Beiqing, or from a foreign organization. He is someone from within our Ming Dynasty... In other words, it generally refers to people within the Ming Dynasty. Each unit or individual.”
Shen Rongxuan frowned and muttered:
"You said it generally refers to 'units or individuals', then this 'units or individuals' must only include 'units or individuals' who are capable of doing this. Moreover, this 'unit or individual' must know about the coup in Beijing In this matter, we need to know that the organizer is Mu Hu, we need to know that the envoy sent by Mu Hu is Na Shun, we need to know where Na Shun lives, and we need to know that there is only one person protecting Na Shun. Moreover, judging from what he said, He also has to know that Mu Hu’s focus is on future banner policies.”
Chen Bingxin agreed:
"Mr. Shen's analysis is good. In this way, the scope is narrowed. Moreover, this 'unit or individual' does not want to see the peaceful restoration of Beijing and hopes to prevent the coup. He wants Mu Hu to completely doubt our 'national reconciliation' ' policy, so he gave up the idea of a coup. In other words, he hopes to continue fighting the war."
Shen Rongxuan smiled slightly and said:
"The target of the spear is obvious. The only force currently fighting in Beijing, Tianjin and Tang Dynasty is the People's Guard. Do you want to say that this 'unit or individual' is Xiang Xiaoqiang? Because he hopes to monopolize the victory of Beijing, so he does not want Beijing to Was it peacefully restored due to an internal coup?"
Chen Bingxin was stunned, lowered his head and said:
"Mr. Shen... my subordinates don't dare to make wild guesses."
Shen Rongxuan lit a cigarette, leaned back in his chair and puffed out smoke, looked out the window and said slowly:
"Xiang Xiaoqiang, this person is quite competitive, but he has no record of competing for military exploits... Now with his status and future, it seems that he will not risk doing this just for the sake of 'conquering Beijing'." That's right. If Xiang Xiaoqiang wanted military exploits, he would have had countless opportunities throughout the war to achieve even greater military exploits. But he seemed to have chosen the most advantageous option in the Northern Expedition. You have to know that Xiang Xiaoqiang is He has romantic ideals in his mind. He has always been hostile to the Northern Qing regime, even more so than our politicians and generals in the south. What he wants to see most now is to destroy the Northern Qing regime as soon as possible. What reasons does he have? How to prevent such a coup? You must know that the Northern Expedition was promoted by him. It can be said that he initiated it. After the reunification of the Ming Dynasty, who else has made greater contributions than him?"
Chen Bingxin nodded repeatedly after hearing this.
"And the most important point," Shen Rongxuan said, "If Xiang Xiaoqiang wants to stop the coup, he just needs to kill Na Shun directly. Why do people have to say those words?"
"Oh, that's right," Chen Bingxin nodded repeatedly and agreed, "Mr. Shen is right. I missed this one."
After a while, Chen Bingxin said:
"So... no matter who sent that person, is it possible that what he said is true?"
Shen Rongxuan smoked a cigarette, squinted his eyes and thought for a while, then shook his head and said:
"It's impossible. Xiang Xiaoqiang hates the Manchus, but not to that extent. He's not stupid enough to bring the German tricks to the Ming Dynasty. As for advising His Majesty, that's even more impossible. It's not like Xiang Xiaoqiang doesn't understand His Majesty. , even if he really thought so, he couldn't say that to His Majesty. Isn't this asking for scolding? Besides, Princess Liaoyang is so close to him, she is already his right-hand man... Princess Liaoyang is a Manchu. Xiang Xiaoqiang really wants to do it. Princess Liaoyang will not be ignorant of what Germany is doing, let alone remain indifferent to it."
After a while, he continued:
"The most reliable way to analyze who did something is to find the motive and see who will benefit from it. But now I hate it, I hate it here, and I can't find the motive. Who will benefit from this thing? Except Guangwu, It seems like no one knows how to do it. But it can’t be Guangwu’s doing.”
Chen Bingxin nodded and agreed:
"Oh, this is really disgusting."
Shen Rongxuan shook his head and sighed, stubbing out half of the cigarette in the ashtray. Then he picked up the chopsticks and said hello: