Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 249 From Qianlong's Nightmare Town

In the 51st year of Qianlong, the seventh month of leap, the second day of junior high school, and the day of Guiyou.

To the southeast of the Li main entrance of the Summer Resort, Heshen Mansion.With a face as wide as five couplets, and three rooms deep in the main hall, He Shen bowed deeply to Wu Shengqin, and said very sincerely: "If you don't tell me this time, you will be in danger. Please accept it."

Liu Quan on the side also quickly knelt down, kowtowed to Wu Shengqin, and said in his mouth, "Thank you, Mr. Bai Hua, for saving your life!"

Wu Shengqin hurried over to support He Shen, and said in his mouth: "Master Zhongtang, why do you do this! Now the matter is over, so let's not mention the past. This time it's just a little effort, I can't deserve such a big gift, I am ashamed of my students." He said to Liu Quan: "Steward Liu, we have known each other for many years, why are you doing this, please hurry up!"

This Wu Shengqin, known as the most shameless literati in the Qing Dynasty in later generations, was born in Nanhui, Jiangsu Province.This person once taught in Xian'an Palace with his younger brother Wu Shenglan, and He Shen was his student at that time.Later, in order to pass the imperial examination, this person clings to Heshen, and even thinks that the student who is the chief examiner is the teacher.

After He Shen sat down again, the servants served tea again, only to hear He Shen smiled and said: "I haven't had time to ask you, why did you come here suddenly this time?"

"This year's Shuntianfu Township Examination, the lower official was appointed by the emperor as the proctor (invigilator). This time, he received the emperor's decree and attended the training with Mr. Peng from the Ministry of Rites, Mr. Ah and Mr. Hu. Arrived, after handing over the sign, I thought about coming to pay Zhongtang first."

He Shen nodded with a smile and said, "The National Talent Promotion Ceremony must be cautious. The exam questions are of great importance, so don't leak them. Strict supervision must also be carried out in the exam room."

"Yes! I will never forget Master Zhongtang's teaching."

He Shen smiled, and then said: "I will go in to see the emperor at this moment, you can stay here tonight, and we will have a long talk when you come back. Shuntian Mansion Yin has complicated things, what is difficult or difficult to do, Let's talk later." After speaking, he said to Liu Quan who was beside him: "Ask Master Hu to talk with Mr. Wu, and Mr. Wu will arrange it in the west chamber at night. I will come back when I see the emperor."

After Heshen entered the main entrance of Li in a sedan chair, he handed over a sign at the Waiyi Gate of Yanbo Zhishuang Building. Not long after, the eunuch on duty came over and bowed to Heshen: "He Zhongtang, the old man and the fifteenth master are in the Jiede Hall. , calling you over."

Jiede Hall is a group of rectangular courtyard buildings located in the north of Qingshushan Pavilion and in the center of Jinghu Lake. It was built in the 45th year of Qianlong.This is the place where Qianlong studied on weekdays when he stayed at the Summer Resort.The courtyard gate is three rooms wide, and the main hall as soon as you enter the gate is the Jiede Hall.There is an artificial pool behind the main hall, and the north side of the pool is called "Jingxiang Pavilion". Qianlong would enjoy lotus here when he was free.

When He Shen entered the door, he saw Qianlong sitting facing south with his eyes closed, and Yong Yan sitting on the next little couch.

"Slave greets master!"

After waiting for a long time, Qianlong, who was sitting above him, was unresponsive as usual.He Shen waited for a long time but did not see Qianlong speaking, so he raised his head slightly, only to see Qianlong closed his eyes as if asleep, muttering something in his mouth.Yong Yan on the side tilted his ears, as if trying to hear clearly.

After a while, Yong Yan finally gave up, he really couldn't understand what Qianlong was saying.

Suddenly, Qianlong opened his eyes and shouted, "What's that man's name?!"

With this loud shout, Yong Yan was so frightened that his whole body trembled, and he was stunned for a moment, thinking: "Who is it? Who are you asking?"

He Shen, who was kneeling on the ground, immediately stood up and answered without hesitation: "Zhao Xin." Qianlong then stopped talking, closed his eyes, and began to recite silently.

After almost an hour like this, He Shen was kneeling with back pain, but he still endured it.At this moment, Qianlong stretched out his hand suddenly, waved at Yongyan and Heshen without saying a word.The two knew that this was letting them go out, and they withdrew from the main hall after prostrating.

The two of them left the courtyard of Jiede Hall and walked to a secluded place. Yong Yan turned his head and asked in a low voice: "He Zhongtang, what was the emperor reading just now? I didn't understand a word."

He Shen said in a low voice: "Master Fifteen, forgive me for being bold, so I dare to tell you this, please don't spread it."

Yong Yan was taken aback and said, "Who do you think I am?!"

He Shen turned his head and looked around, and saw that there was no one around, so he sighed and said in a low voice: "The master just recited silently is a secret spell from the Western Regions. Even if the person who is cursed is thousands of miles away if you recite this spell silently, People who live within miles or miles away will also die without disease. When the master asked about it just now, I used the name of the rebel Zhao Xin to deal with it. Lord Fifteen, this is the matter."

When Yong Yan heard it, he was stunned and terrified.He knew that Qianlong was very proficient in Tibetan Buddhism, and sometimes practiced the secret method of Tibetan Buddhism with lamas, but he didn't expect to know this kind of magic.How afraid of Zhao Xin is this!Even this method has been used.

He Shen's thoughts at this time were also in a thousand turns.According to his guess, Qianlong must have been touched by something before, so he cast the curse.But you can't ask Yong Yan directly about this matter, you can only speculate from Qianlong's actions in the past two days.

In the blink of an eye, He Shen's heart skipped a beat.He first thought of the books Qianlong had been reading these days, and then thought of what Fukang'an had said before that Zhao Xin occupied the area of ​​Fuerdan City to imitate the old things of Taizu and Taizong, and the answer was already clear.

The emperor is so anxious!They fought twice, and it was obvious that they couldn't fight if there were fewer people; if there were more soldiers, the Eight Banners would be afraid of being beaten, and it would be impossible if there were fewer people in the Green Camp.Right now, droughts and locust plagues continue throughout the Central Plains, and the evil church parties in Henan and Shandong are also ready to move. This year may be too late.If Zhao Xin and his group continue to grow, there will be no one to stop them.

It's really good enough, even the method of Nightmare Town has been used! (According to the "Qing Barnyard Banknotes", Qianlong did indeed do this during the Sichuan-Shaanxi White Lotus Rebellion.)
Since the defeat of Fuerdan City, Qianlong knocked out his teeth and swallowed his blood, and finally redeemed more than 1 people with the crime silver.Now that Duerjia is in prison, Fukang'an is contemplating behind closed doors at home, and Agui was demoted to Jiangsu to inspect Hegong; Ushi Hada and E Hui, who died, are the biggest scapegoats. He was exiled to Ili.

Fortunately, all the redeemed elites of the Eight Banners and their families were grateful to Qianlong, which saved the court some face.But after the fact, the Qing school made calculations, and suddenly found that the person who gained the most this time was actually He Shen!This person not only won the reputation of "entering the tiger's lair alone to deal with wolves", but also became a bachelor, and grandiosely became the leader of the military aircraft minister; the bannermen from all over the country, especially the various families in the capital, praised Heshen, He said that if it weren't for He Zhongtang, his family would be over.

This is also the reason why they secretly encouraged Cao Xibao to participate in the impeachment of Liu Quan, just to set fire to himself and curb Heshen's momentum.What Dong Gao, Liang Guozhi and others thought was that if they didn't contain it, the court would really become Heshen's "one-word hall" in the future.

After all the calculations, he didn't expect that Cao Xibao would mistakenly hand over to a hypocrite and show the memorial to Wu Shengqin.As a result, the news was leaked ahead of time, allowing Liu Quan to demolish the house within three days to cover up the evidence.At the same time, Qianlong personally went out to conduct a strict investigation, which was actually a protection. In the end, the Qing School was ashamed.Cao Xibao couldn't say that he was instigated by others, so he had to bite the bullet and make up a reason for "coveting the main examiner of the rural examination".

In fact, the most recent books Qianlong read were "History of Ming Dynasty" and "Records of Taizu".Back then, Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty was also very happy. After the three major expeditions, the treasury was exhausted.In a battle of Sarhu, the Ming army who left the customs suffered heavy losses and was severely injured. Then the victory of the Jin army not only stabilized its regime, but also seized the initiative on the Liaodong battlefield.Because of the huge military expenditures caused by the war, the former Ming Dynasty continued to increase taxes, intensified domestic conflicts, and led to internal and external troubles in the Ming Dynasty.

How similar was the situation back then to today!At this time, the Qing school still wants to start a political dispute, so how can Qianlong not be vigilant!Just slap him to death.

Those redeemed Eight Banners soldiers have been screened and appeased, and have returned to the garrison cities to rest.Now they have to hand over an offshore island for Zhao Ni to use; they even have to pretend to be blind and allow Zhao Ni to send people to Guangzhou.Each of these incidents is a great shame and humiliation to Qianlong!
Since Heshen came back with Fukang'an, Du Erjia and others, Qianlong summoned more than a dozen in-person inquiries to learn more about what happened before and after, and never missed a single bit.After that, he ordered the princes and ministers to make a report and put forward countermeasures.

To this day, the military officer faction headed by Agui has been broken by Zhao Xin. Agui, who is busy regulating the river, pretends to be deaf and dumb, and dare not get involved at all; Xue wrote a memorial of ten thousand words.After Qianlong read it, he didn't publish it. Only Yong Yan and He Shen knew what it said.

According to Yong Yan's thinking, now he still has to accumulate strength, practice and review the green camps in various places, and strengthen his military equipment before fighting Zhao Xin.The matter of the extremely expensive sailing warship was brought up again. Qianlong thought about it and decided to buy two from the Westerners from Macau, and at the same time ordered the Fujian shipyard to start building.

But now that disasters continue in various places, Qianlong has continued to whitewash the peace over the years, and the construction funds for the Old Summer Palace have been spent like running water, and even the household department can't afford the money; so the heavy responsibility of fundraising falls on Heshen's shoulders.

Faced with such a situation, Yong Yan knew that even if Cao Xibao had real evidence, Qianlong must protect He Shen.Now the only one who can figure out a way to get the money is He Shen!So during the whole process, Yong Yan didn't say a word.

What shocked Yong Yan the most was that He Shen could understand Qianlong's incantation!It is estimated that he will also use this spell.If you want to kill someone, just chant a spell, no one can escape!

Thinking of this, Yong Yan's face became guilty, and he said in a deep voice: "Since the defeat of Jilin, Sacred Heart has been worried and resentful, has trouble sleeping and eating, and all kinds of anxiety are visible. But there are still petty and wretched people in the court. Discussing the virtues in private, slandering the ministers, it's so sad to think about it. At present, the military officials everywhere are not bad, but the civil servants are spending their days and nights, drinking money, and seeing it getting worse day by day. The prosperous world created by the emperor himself, how can these people be allowed to do it at will? !"

"Master Fifteen, the master is an emperor through the ages, with great power and demeanor! It is difficult to sustain prosperity, which has happened in all dynasties. But according to the slaves, whether it is a bannerman or a local official, it is corrupt and rotten. At best, there are only a small number of people. As for the matter of official administration, the slave thinks that it is okay, so Lord Fifteen does not need to worry too much."

Yong Yan smiled slightly after hearing this, and said: "Maybe I think too much." Although he said so in his mouth, he didn't think so in his heart.

More than ten days ago, when Wang Erlie, who served as the supervisory envoy of Shaanxi Province, came to the Mountain Resort to face the saint, he mentioned to Yongyan that now the imperial court is eating the grain, the treasury is empty, and the people are extremely poor. Who is going to eat the money?If no effort is made to rectify the administration of officials, the officialdom will be sluggish and the people will be in dire straits!
Yong Yan also shook his head and smiled wryly at that time. There is a folk saying that "officials are tigers, officials are wolves, drive away a tiger, and leave behind a pack of hungry wolves".He has been in the military aircraft department for several years, and he also understands that the administration of officials is really a big topic, but the person in front of him is...
Thinking of this, Yong Yan stopped talking and said goodbye to He Shen hastily.

At some point, the sky had become gloomy, and the billowing black clouds seemed to be pressing down from the top of the head.Suddenly, a bolt of lightning pierced the sky, and He Shen shrank his neck so suddenly that he was shocked.He thought of the secret spell that Qianlong had cast just now, and he couldn't help but shudder, he hurriedly quickened his pace, and walked towards Li's main gate.

"Sneeze!" Zhao Xin sneezed three times in a row on the Thunder God swayed by the waves, and the eardrums of everyone else in the cockpit were so loud that their eardrums hurt and their ears were buzzing.

Ding Guofeng said: "You don't have a cold, do you?"

Ten minutes ago, it suddenly rained on the sea, and the fine raindrops were blown by the sea breeze, hitting the glass of the cockpit continuously, crackling.Zhao Xin wiped his nose with a piece of paper and said, "I guess it was blown on the deck in the morning, so it's not a big problem."

A Miao, who was on the side, heard this, and hurried out the door, ran to the restaurant on the second floor, made a cup of cold medicine for Zhao Xin, and asked the people in the cafeteria to boil a pot of ginger syrup.

A day ago, the Raytheon came near an island more than 100 nautical miles away from Humen.According to Wang Ping, Heshen's slave, if you walk several dozen miles to the northwest by sea, you will reach the big island called "Dangan Mountain".The boat club of the Cai family of Thirteen Lines should have been waiting at Wailingding Island, fifty miles northwest of Danganshan Island, to pick up Liu Zheng and his party for landing.

As a result, it rained suddenly, so Ding Guofeng had no choice but to drive the Thunder God, and under the guidance of Liu Sheng, he carefully parked the boat in a sheltered harbor on Dazuiwei Island; after the rain stopped, he went to Wailingding Island .

In the smoky rain and fog, there are a few wooden houses on the island.Ding Guofeng was surprised and said, "Is there still someone living here?"

Wang Ping on the side explained: "My lord, this is a Danhu family."

Ding Guofeng nodded and said: "Oh, I've heard of it, people from the water."

Wang Ping, a house slave, was quite knowledgeable, and continued to explain: "My lord, you really have a lot of knowledge! At the time of Yongzheng, the first one, he opened up the low status of Danhu. Cultivate wasteland."

At this moment, Zhao Xin grumbled and said, "According to what you said, is it okay for us to be seen by them?"

"Master Zhao, it's all right. These people usually dare not go ashore. They are most afraid of meeting officials."

"Oh? Why is that?" Anyway, the boat couldn't leave, so Ding Guofeng decided to break the casserole and ask the end.

There were no chairs in the cockpit, and Wang Ping's legs felt sore after standing for a long time.The cockpit is full of small flashing lights of various colors, and he can't understand any of them.There were guards watching behind him, and Wang Ping didn't dare to move around at all, so he leaned carefully against the nautical chart table and said: "Although Lord Yongzheng is benevolent, a lowly family is always a lowly family. The fields on these islands must be unpaid. Those who have paid the tax, if they dare to report to the officials, the farm affairs will be exposed. Besides, the Navy and the Customs have sent people to notify in advance, so please rest assured."

On Tai Tsui Mei Island, a young man in his 20s crouched behind a boulder, looking at the Thor in the bay, with a terrified look on his face.Braving the heavy rain, he turned around and ran, and came to a cave behind a rock, and said to the crowd warming by the fire, "First brother, no, it's not good! There's a strange boat coming outside, it scared me to death!"

A 20-year-old young man whom he called the first brother stood up suddenly, holding a long knife in his hand, and asked, "Is it the army? Has anyone landed?"

The young man who reported the message shook his head: "It's raining too much outside, and we can't even go ashore. As for the boat, I can't say no, it's too scary! Brother Yi, you should go and see for yourself."

"Brother One" sneered, and said to everyone in the cave: "I'm short of a big boat! In this weather, if it's really an official army, I'll rob the boat and do him a favor!"

At this time, more than a dozen other people in the cave also got up and responded: "All listen to brother one!"

After saying that, everyone picked up the thing, braved the heavy rain, and ran outside with the reporter.As a result, when they got to the place and took a look, they were all dumbfounded and trembling with fright.

This is a boat?Is this called a ship!This is clearly a mountain!

　Note: The so-called Chief Minister of Military Aircraft is just a name, there is no official statement.The foreman of the military aircraft minister is required to be on duty every day and be ready to be summoned by the emperor at any time, even if the emperor is out on a tour.In the early days, the leader of the Minister of Military Affairs was responsible for all the signatures of the emperor's summons to discuss government affairs, the drafting of edicts following the emperor's will, and the signing of edicts sent to various officials.As far as He Shen is concerned, although he is not long enough to be a bachelor, he is with Qianlong every day, and he is actually the leader of the military minister.In the Qing Dynasty, the ministers of military aircraft were not considered prime ministers, because they did not have the authority to review memorials, and they only helped the emperor handle military affairs and make suggestions.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)