Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 559 Help From Local Governance

Seeing Xu Dayong's expression, Li Qiucheng knew that the other party had misunderstood, so he sighed deeply and said: "Master Xu, as the saying goes, you don't slap someone in the face when you hit someone, and you don't reveal your shortcomings when you say someone. My ancestors said that there are three kinds of unfilial piety. Later, if people inside and outside expose our eunuch’s shortcomings, we will scold him for not growing up on human food. We people, just being stabbed is already very miserable, and other difficulties will be even more.”

"Master Xu, most of the eunuchs in the palace have come from the generation of Zhili and Jingji since the ancestor of the former Ming Dynasty. Do you know why?"

Xu Dayong shook his head, thinking that I didn't know this.

Li Qiucheng took a sip of tea and continued: "Like my hometown, it's close to the Ziya River, the terrain is low-lying, and it's flooded every ten years. When there's too much rain in summer, the crops just fail. In our local language, Toads get wet when they urinate. Those who have the strength go out to 'look for Qiu'er', oh, just go out to do part-time jobs, and those who are old can only hang themselves. Also, the village is full of saline-alkali land, and nothing can be grown. , the country people suffer."

Xu Da spent these years traveling all over the world, seeing all kinds of poor people, and he has long since developed a hard-hearted heart.It's not bad to sell children and girls. You must know that during the severe drought in Henan in the 50th year of Qianlong, he encountered cannibalism.

The reason why he has worked tirelessly for Beihai Town these years is because he remembered what Zhao Xin said to him: "Great use, after overthrowing the Qing Dynasty, there will be no more people who sell children and women to eat people in this world." thing."

However, Li Qiucheng was bitter for a long time, so Xu Dayong also understood the meaning.It's nothing more than that eunuchs are hard-working people. People outside the palace look at the scenery, but they don't actually earn much money.When they get old, the masters will abandon them like shoes and give them a pension of one tael of silver.Everyone desperately climbed up for no other reason than not to be oppressed and to get rich.

Of course, the eunuchs also seek spiritual sustenance by believing in Buddhism and Taoism.What Li Qiucheng meant was a two-pronged approach, both spiritual and material, so that the effect would be better.

Regarding this phenomenon, Zhao Xin once specifically talked about it in the training course of the North Navy Intelligence Bureau, which is called "over-compensation mechanism".It is nothing more than a person's own physical defects and inferiority complex, as well as the shadow brought about by his family's poverty since he was a child, he often satisfies his psychological needs through material to make up for his defects.

Finally, Xu Dayong gritted his teeth and decided to agree to the other party's request.He got up first and went out to find Guisheng to get 2 taels of silver notes.These banknotes were all issued by Yuci Chang's bank, and they were redeemed upon sight.It is said that the Chang family has a big business, and has been secretly doing leather goods and ginseng business with Beihai Town for the past few years, and the reputation of the bank notes is very good.

Xu Dayong told Li Qiucheng that the remaining 3 taels of banknotes would be taken out of the palace in one month from Shopkeeper Dong.As for the title deed, there is no rush. I have to wait for Beihai Town to complete the formalities. It will take two or three months to see it.

Li Qiucheng solemnly collected the bank note, and before leaving, he asked again: "Master Xu, can you give me an accurate statement, when will King Zhao send troops to enter the customs?"

"It hasn't been a few years." Xu Dayong patted the other party's shoulder with a smile, which made Li Qiucheng very happy, and confirmed once again that the other party really didn't despise him.

After meeting two of the three, Xu Dayong felt a lot more relaxed, but he still warned himself not to be careless, because the last one was really important.

In the early morning two days later, three mule carts were parked by the moat between Chaoyangmen and Chongwenmen. One of them was an ordinary mule cart on the street, while the other two were made of chestnut shell paint and clear tung oil. The appearance of dried noodles is not from ordinary people.Because the city of Beijing began to rain heavily in the middle of the night and it has not stopped, so there are very few pedestrians on the roads, and all the vehicles that pull water and soymilk, charcoal and coal vehicles, burner trucks, and carrot trucks come and go. It is necessary to rush into the city from Chongwenmen early.

In this way, the sound of the rain drowns out the conversation in the car.

"Master Xu really knows how to choose the day." Liu Quan, who was sitting cross-legged, held up the teacup and made a gesture of invitation to Xu Dayong who was opposite him.Although he had a smile on his face, his heart was beating non-stop.

Xu Dayong, who had just gotten into the car, wiped the rainwater off his body with a towel, and took the opportunity to look around the furnishings in the car, thinking that he would really enjoy it, and it was all people's fat and people's anointing.

This mule cart looks big from the outside, but inside it is full of holes.The water-filled paulownia paneling is as crystal clear as amber with varnish tung oil, and there are large glass car windows on both sides, with blue tassels and velvet curtains hanging.Between Liu Quan and him was a small mahogany Kang table, with a soft silk cover sitting under the buttocks, as soft and loose as a thick mattress.There is a bright lantern on the table, a pot of tea and four snacks.

He wiped off the rainwater on his body, put the towel on the table, took a sip from his teacup and said, "Master Liu has won the prize, it's just a coincidence. We adults often say that safety comes first when you go out."

Liu Quan laughed, and said "safety first", who pretended to be a guard and went to Chaoyin Temple?If my master hadn't let him go, the grass on the grave would be three feet high now.

He gradually suppressed his smile, put the teacup back on the kang table, and said straight to the point: "Master Xu, I wonder why you are so anxious to see Mr. Liu? In order to see you, Master Zhongtang asked me to rush back from Rehe overnight. Old Bones can't help tormenting like this. What's more, you are actually able to post letters to my house in the middle of the night, you are really brave!"

Seven days ago, when Liu Quan's eldest son, Liu Yin, suddenly appeared in Rehe, he hurriedly reported that a letter had been thrown into his home in Xinghuasi Street in the middle of the night, and when he opened it, it turned out to be from Beihai Town. He asked to see Liu Quan by name, said that there was something very important, and agreed on a time.

This news shocked both Liu Quan and He Shen. At the meeting in early June, He Shen clearly asked his younger brother He Lin to send someone to Jeju Island to contact Beihai Town. Why did the person surnamed Zhao bypass the contact person and come directly to the door? here?

The master and servant pondered for a long time, but they were still at a loss.However, out of fear of Beihai Town and Zhao Xin, He Shen still asked Liu Quan to return to the capital in a hurry on the grounds that something happened at home.

Xu Dayong said with a smile: "Who does Bei Haijun need to worry about when doing things?"

Liu Quan was almost annoyed and yelled, Xinghua Temple Street is on the Shicha Seaside, it is at the root of the imperial city, how many eyes are staring at it!
"Aren't you afraid that I'll let someone take you and send you to the yamen of the infantry commander?"

"Come on. Manager Liu, you have earned a lot of money from Beihai Town these years. Are you treasonous fornication? Dare to take me? Do you believe that the Beihai Navy will be able to enter Beijing within ten days? ! Don't play tricks!"

Liu Quanxin said that this guy is like a hob, he's even worse than me back then.Only Xu Dayong said again: "Xu is just an errand, you can't offend me if you get angry with me. Zhao Wang has an order, let alone come to Beijing, I have to break into the dragon's pond and tiger's lair!"

"All right, all right," Liu Quan lost his temper. A 60-year-old man couldn't afford to compete with a gangster. "What's the matter with me?"

Xu Dayong chuckled, and took out a letter from his bosom.Different from the previous letters to Ruan Yuan and Li Qiucheng, the envelope was covered with a wax seal, and a seal with a five-pointed star in a circle was stamped on it.

Liu Quanquan looked at Xu Dayong with doubts and said, "This"

"Your Excellency just asked me to forward the letter to you. As for what was said in it, Xu has no idea."

Liu Quan had no choice but to take the letter, broke the wax seal, and took out the letter paper to have a look. There were three pages in total, and the writing was densely written on it.He lowered his head and took out a pair of clothes from a small bag on his belt, put them on, and then looked at the lantern.However, when he looked at the light of the lantern for less than a minute, his complexion suddenly changed, and the hand holding the letter trembled involuntarily.After reading all three pages of the letter, Liu Quan's face turned pale.

Seeing the other party's expression, Xu Dayong couldn't help being very curious. He really wanted to know what was written in the letter, which could scare the head of the Hefu to such a degree.

After reading it, Liu Quan was stunned for a while, then put away the letter, and carefully put it in his arms like a treasure.

"Master Xu, that's it for today. It's raining outside, and Liu's old arms and legs won't see you off."

Xu Dayong nodded, then bowed his hands and said goodbye, got out of the car, and without opening his umbrella, got into his mule cart with a few steps, and then headed east.His tasks have been completed, and it is useless to stay in the capital to delay, so he had already bid farewell to shopkeeper Dong before meeting Liu Quan. In addition, Guisheng and one of his subordinates had already gone to Tongzhou first, and the two agreed to meet at the Tongzhou Canal Wharf.

Liu Quan opened the glass window and watched Xu Dayong's mule cart disappear into the gurgling rain. The cool wind came in through the window with the raindrops, blowing the drawn curtains so that they bulged and sagged, like deep sighs. .Although it was past Chenzheng (eight o'clock) now, the sky became more and more gloomy, with bright flashes in the sky one after another, followed by a series of rolling thunders across the sky.

Liu Yin got out of his car under an umbrella, walked to the window and asked, "Father, shall we go back?"

"No! Go back to Rehe immediately!"

"But today, we have to wait until the rain stops before we go?"

"What? My words don't work anymore!"

What Liu Quan said was categorical, and there was a chill in his eyes when he looked at his son.Liu Yin shrank his head in fright, and quickly sent his men back to Xinghuasi Street to give instructions to his family.After burning incense, the two mule carts galloped along the road outside the city towards Rehe, and the nailed wheels with big mushroom heads rolled up muddy water on the muddy road.

In fact, Xu Dayong was not the only one who was curious about the content of this letter. After Chen Qingsong heard about it from Zhao Xin, he was also full of curiosity about the reaction of the Qing Dynasty.

The two of them met in Heilongjiang City.Chen Qingsong brought a group of people to inspect the resettlement of immigrant villages around Heilongjiang City, as well as the construction of farmland and water conservancy facilities.Zhao Xin, on the other hand, came back from Outer Mongolia and set off from Khabarovsk by boat. He walked all the way and inspected from town to village one by one. Not only immigrants, but even border residents of various ethnic groups had to chat with them for a while. , so go very slowly.

"Do you think He Shen will listen to you?"

"Let them figure it out! The east, north, and south directions are basically blocked by us. If the Manchus want to escape, they can only go to Qinghai or Sichuan. For such a big thing as the Gurkha invasion, Qinghai-Tibet Bian actually dared to discuss peace in private. In addition, those lamas and nobles have a very chaotic relationship, and Qianlong has always wanted to take action to rectify it. Isn't this a chance?"

Chen Qingsong nodded and said: "According to this, you plan to let Qianlong live on for a few more years?"

"Is it important that he is just a dying emperor? After the battle of Outer Mongolia, I plan to retire the first four regiments, so that the shortage of cadres and workers can be solved a lot." Zhao Xin began to wring his fingers to give Chen Qingsong babbled one by one.

"Urumqi and Ili need to solve it? Open up a base in Jiaodong and introduce large-scale population? Although Deng Fei and his team have made some progress, there are still too few Chinese in Batavia, and there are not enough people in Jinlan Bay. We have to recruit people from the coast of Guangdong."

When Zhao Xin said this, his originally frowning brows suddenly opened up, and he smiled at Chen Qingsong: "By the way, there is one more thing. Deng Fei sent me a telegram yesterday. Guess what? The Governor of French India sent An envoy has gone to Batavia to meet him, and wants us to do a favor."

"what?"

"What is the name of the governor they govern locally, oh, Camille Charles Leclerc, Leclerc, think of a sum of money, hire Thor and our people, go to France to rescue Louis XVI and the queen."

"Pfft!" Chen Qingsong swallowed a sip of water, and immediately sprayed it out.Thanks to Zhao Xin's preparation in advance, he quickly dodged without a drop.

"Why are you looking for us? Can't they call back by themselves?"

"Our ship is fast. I guess the local French people got the news from Ruan Fuying." After explaining, Zhao Xin continued: "I haven't finished yet. The governor's wife's family is also a nobleman. I was arrested. It is estimated that when Robespierre comes to power, all of them will have to be beheaded."

That is, more than a month ago, members of the royal family of the Bourbon dynasty who had been under house arrest in the Tuileries Palace escaped collectively in the middle of the night.Unexpectedly, not only did Louis XVI not hide his whereabouts along the way, but he even got out of the car many times to chat with farmers. This fellow thought that he was deeply loved by his subjects, so he acted like a king going to the countryside to inspect.

Originally, when Louis XVI escaped, he was two hours later than his younger brother, the Count of Provence. As a result, this guy was still procrastinating and dawdling, and when he arrived in Chalons in northern France, he was already three hours later than originally planned.The cavalry who were supposed to greet the king outside the city were even more bizarre. They suspected that the king had failed to escape from Paris, so most of them withdrew.If it was Qianlong, all of them would be beheaded properly.

Later, when Louis XVI's family arrived in Varennes, the local city council sent National Guards to intercept them. The king's family failed to escape and were escorted back to Paris.

In addition, Louis XVI did a very nonsense thing before he fled. He left a statement condemning the Constituent Assembly for depriving the royal family of diplomatic, military and local administrative powers, and announced that he was in June 1789. All decrees approved after the 6rd are invalid.

You said that even if you want to issue a statement, you won't wait until you escape to Brussels?The result of his doing so is tantamount to providing an excuse for European countries to send troops to intervene.

The French people, especially the citizens of Paris, felt "severe misfortune" about the king's escape, and the king would betray them. People such as Georges Danton and Marat began to think about establishing a social system without a king.At the same time, this incident also became the fuse for the king's family to lose their heads two years later.

Chen Qingsong stared at Zhao Xin for a while, and said meaningfully: "You are about to move again, aren't you? Don't go!"

"Go, why don't you go? I still want to get Louisiana. I have to make a good relationship with Napoleon in advance."

I'll fuck it!Chen Qingsong's eyes widened suddenly, he didn't expect that Zhao Xin was still thinking about the American continent.With his limited knowledge of world history, he remembered that the Americans seemed to have bought Louisiana from Napoleon, so he asked, "What is Napoleon doing now?"

Zhao Xin said: "Probably, he is almost a lieutenant colonel in Corsica, and it's still too early for him to appear on the stage!"

"How much did the Americans pay for Louisiana?"

"Five million dollars."

"Are you going to cut off the beard?"

"Well, I have this idea."

"You're planning to kill the Americans!" Chen Qingsong pouted, but when he thought of the future of the United States, he could only stick to the Atlantic Ocean, and he suddenly felt a sense of "you have today" comfort.He thought for a while and said, "Do you really plan to rescue the Louis XVI family?"

"His son was only ten years old when he died." Zhao Xin shook his head, then nodded and said, "It depends on the situation. I haven't thought about it yet."

Chen Qingsong put away his smile, and said to Zhao Xin with a serious face: "I advise you to think it over before making a decision. If you meddle in French affairs, the whole European history might be messed up."

After hearing this, Zhao Xin didn't speak for a long time, wandered around the room for a while, squinted his eyes and said: "The whole of East Asia has been messed up beyond recognition by us, and I don't care about one more Europe."

(End of this chapter)