Daming Yinghua

Chapter 453 Winter Moon Qinhuai Peach Blossom Fan

A row of dressing-up buildings are built along the water, and every family's pink shadows are reflected on the beautiful moon.

December of the lunar year, Nanjing City.

Two sedans, not fancy or eye-catching but neat and elegant, were parked near Banqiao on the Qinhuai River.

Hong Chengchou, the Junior Secretary of the State Affairs Temple, wearing a cotton robe and a dark blue puff-robe, stepped down from the sedan chair.

Wen Tiren, the Vice Minister of Rites of Nanjing, was also wearing casual clothes like Hong Chengchou, and walked over from another sedan chair.

"Hong Shaoqing, you can recognize that the row of houses over there is the Imperial Examination Hall."

Hong Chengchou raised his eyes politely and bowed to Wen Tiren: "Thanks to Minister Wen's guidance, I am able to revisit the old place."

"Haha, the past seems like yesterday. The scene when I took the provincial examination in the Imperial College seems to be still vivid in my mind. It has been thirty years in a flash."

Wen Tiren narrowed his eyes, looking nonchalant as he reminisced about the past, but in fact he couldn't help but show off his seniority in front of Hong Chengchou.

Wen Tihen was from Huzhou and Hong Chengchou was from Zhangzhou. They both took the provincial examinations for the imperial examinations in Nanjing.

Minister Wen is already fifty years old this year. Not only is he much older than Hong Chengchou, who is already thirty years old, but he also passed the imperial examination twenty years earlier. Although the status of the six ministries in Nanjing cannot be compared with those in Beijing, the rank of Minister of Rites is at least higher than that of Shaoqing of the State Council.

If Minister Wen had not found out that Hong Chengchou's female boss was at odds with Donglin, he would not have condescended to come and personally entertain Hong Chengchou.

On this side, Hong Chengchou, who was no longer a newcomer in the officialdom, fluently delivered flattering words and performed the humble etiquette of a junior, and in his heart he could not help but admire his boss's prediction.

Half a month ago, when Zheng Haizhu asked him to go south to contact Qi Jin and explain the battle plan of secretly crossing Chencang, she repeatedly reminded him that there might be more Mongolians, Shanxi people, Jizhen people, Liaodong people in the capital who were spying for Nurhaci, and even the six ministries might not be so clean. Therefore, after Hong Chengchou arrived in Nanzhili, he should not go to Zhenjiang to find General Qi, but stay in Nanjing and wait for her own spy backbones, and secretly invite General Qi to Nanjing City so that the two can talk in detail.

As for what kind of superficial work he would do in Nanjing, Zheng Haizhu told Hong Chengchou that someone in the Nanjing Ministry of Rites would treat him as a guest of honor.

Sure enough, on the second day of staying at the Nanjing Posthouse, Wen Tiren, the Minister of Rites, sent someone to deliver a letter, saying that Minister Wen wanted to show his hospitality.

Hong Chengchou did not have the perspective of Zheng Haizhu's descendants, and did not know that the modest and humble Minister Wen in front of him was actually a scheming man. In real history, in the first half of his official career, he dressed himself up as a non-partisan, indifferent to fame and fortune. In the second half, he was obsessed with the intrigues in the central government during the Chongzhen period. After fighting against Donglin, he also fought against his former ally Zhou Yanru. He did nothing but bully people and flatter his superiors.

Zheng Haizhu only told Hong Chengchou before his departure that Wen Tihen, a native of Huzhou, was not a member of the Zhejiang Party, but did not like Donglin. That was enough. Then she would see whether Hong Chengchou, her subordinate, was as smart as she hoped and could figure out her intention to take advantage of Wen Tihen.

Today, Wen Tiren entertained Hong Chengchou in the depths of a brothel called Yalu, which looked like a college, near the Imperial Examination Hall.

The singing girl sang three songs. The fake mother who was sitting with her took one look at Minister Wen's eyes and tactfully asked the beauty to leave.

Wen Tiren took a sip of wine and finally stopped hiding his feelings. He said angrily, "The sound of wind, rain, and reading, the affairs of the country, family, and the world. Haha, you say you care about everything, but in fact, you just want to follow the emperor's will. What a lot of righteous people in the court, just pretending to be loyal."

Hong Chengchou could tell that the other party was spitting at Zhao Nanxing of Donglin, but he did not immediately respond, but changed the subject: "The minister is originally from Huzhou? What a good place. Zheng Siqing told me that after Songjiang was opened, Huzhou's silk and brocade were scrambled for by foreign merchants, and they begged Songjiang Prefecture to send more boat guides, and even more silver. Haha, when Siqing heard that the Ministry of Revenue had income, she couldn't help but be happy."

Wen Tiren muttered to himself that the merchant woman's subordinates were all cunning.

His expression was filled with anger and determination. He stared at Hong Chengchou and said, "Shaoqing has actually understood what I said."

Hong Chengchou raised his butt halfway and said, "I respectfully listen to Minister Wen's advice." Wen Tiren said solemnly, "The officials of the six ministries in Nanjing are ridiculed by the world as the Minister of Flowers and Birds. Although they wear official robes, they are just on duty to appreciate flowers and play with birds. They are not comparable to the celebrities of the six ministries in the capital. But I have never been idle. What I think about day and night are the mountains and rivers of our Ming Dynasty. Hong Shaoqing, I am willing to speak frankly. In the name of the Minister of Rites of Nanjing, I would like to submit a memorial to the court to criticize Zhao Nanxing, the then Minister of Rites, for ignoring the raging Liao affairs, making arbitrary decisions, wasting public funds, and putting the safety of our Ming Dynasty's borders at a disadvantage!"

Hong Chengchou pretended to be moved by what he said, opened his mouth slightly, and was stunned for a moment before he stood up solemnly and bowed deeply: "Minister Wen is righteous and sets an example for officials. I will keep it in mind."

Wen Tiren quickly raised his hand to motion him to sit down, thinking to himself, I don’t want you to remember that, I just want you to give me a definite answer.

He then continued with a sigh, "It's not easy for your new office in the State Affairs Temple. My dear brother, please don't blame me for being a teacher. You, Zheng Siqing, have a bad background and no master of the same age. It's not a long-term solution to rely on a few eunuchs to help you."

Hong Chengchou was clear in his mind, and at this moment he showed his sincerity: "Minister, the Minister of the Temple actually understands this principle to some extent, otherwise she would not have found a fellow countryman like me. But the two of us are still a little weak after all. If there is a capable minister like the Minister to work together..."

That’s right, you should listen to this.

Wen Tiren then put on a stern expression, as if to say "let's not talk about that for now", and said seriously: "In the Nanjing Censorate, I also have many like-minded friends. The censors in the capital are silent, and we censors in Nanjing will take the lead. How do you think?"

Hong Chengchou raised his butt for the second time.

"On behalf of the Minister of the Temple, I would like to thank Lord Wen for speaking out for justice. To be honest, the Minister of the Temple sent me south this time because he wanted to visit the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate. Since Lord Wen is willing to come forward, I would like to ask him to give me some instructions. Can the State Council, the Nanjing Ministry of Rites, and the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate just fight the Donglin openly?"

Wen Tiren's face was full of openness and honesty: "It should be so. It's a gentleman's dispute, and it should be spread far and wide. What's wrong with that?"

After that, he changed his tone and said, "It's just right. You, Zheng Siqing, can learn a trick and see the difference between enemies and friends in the court."

Hong Chengchou thought to himself, our officials have already learned this trick a long time ago. Not only have they learned it, they have also suggested that the emperor take a look.

The two men agreed on the terms of cooperation and drank a few more cups. As they were both proud of their status, they did not want to stay any longer to listen to the music, so they left the brothel filled with the faint smell of cosmetics.

It was still early in the morning, and Hong Chengchou saw that there was a paper fan shop nearby, so he went forward to take a look.

Wen Tiren smiled and said, "I have nothing in Jiangnan, so I will give you a branch of spring. Brother Hong, although it is winter now, this paper fan shop in Jinling is full of spring colors. Come, choose a few and I will give them to you and Zheng Siqing."

The owner of the fan shop was very sharp-eyed and could tell from the beginning that the person who came must be an important official. He carefully thought about Wen Tihen's words and hurriedly called two of his waiters to select a few round and folding fans with pictures of brilliant spring scenes painted on them and respectfully introduced them to Hong Chengchou.

Hong Chengchou picked up a folding fan, turned around and faced the door, compared it for a while, and realized: "Is this a painting of peach blossoms by the Qinhuai River?"

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Master, you have a good eye! In two months, when the spring breeze turns the south bank of the river green again, the peach blossoms outside our door will be in full bloom like clouds."

"Okay, any fan with peach blossoms painted on it, whether it's round or folding, please bring it to me."

As they were talking, a young couple also walked into the fan shop. The man was wearing a scholar's scarf, and the woman was holding a baby girl who looked just one year old. She had beautiful eyes and eyebrows, like a fairy child in a painting.

"Mr. Dong." Another waiter went up to greet him, and it was obvious that he was a regular customer.

The scholar said politely, "Please, brother, choose a folding fan with a picture of spring for us."

"No need to choose, I think the one Xiaowan picked is pretty good," the scholar's wife said softly, smiling at her precious daughter, "Yesterday I saw the young master of the Hou family practicing calligraphy by the window, and the scene was similar to this one."

Hong Chengchou looked intently and saw that the beautiful girl was holding a peach blossom fan in her snow-white little hand.