The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 144: Fancy Clothes and Furious Horses (I)

Beijing, Ming Dynasty.

Amid the sound of firecrackers all over the city, the bloody 47th year of Wanli finally came to an end, and the capital welcomed the first year of Taichang.

On New Year's Eve, the Imperial City was unusually free of curfew. The streets were bustling with people and tourists, and even ladies who rarely went out on weekdays came out to play and stroll. The Five Cities Military Commission and the Pacification Commission had to deploy additional personnel to maintain law and order.

"Mother, the dumplings are in the pot. Please eat them by yourself. I have something to do at the government office, so I won't be back."

"Son, stay away from the fight..."

With a creak, Shen Lian picked up the embroidered spring knife, said goodbye to his mother, and closed the gate.

Walking out of the T-shaped alley, the gentle look on his face disappeared, and he scanned the pedestrians on the street as if he was scouting prey.

But one could see people in brocade clothes and flowery hats coming and going, each with his or her own style of attire, all hanging around in teahouses and taverns.

What a beautiful scene of a New Year’s Eve outing.

Walking eastward from Zuoanmen to the Chongwenmen city wall, we encountered the night patrol of the imperial guards.

"Master Shen, look."

The speaker was Zhao Yuanzhi, a small flag officer, who had been working under Captain Shen for several months.

Following his finger, he saw a four-person sedan passing by. As it passed Shen Lian, a corner of the green curtain lifted, and a refreshing fragrance filled his nose. Inside the sedan sat a beautiful woman in a crimson python robe, winking at him. (Note 1)

Shen Lian gave the beautiful woman an evil smile and watched her sedan go away. He felt lost for a long time before he took out a coconut ladle from his waist and gulped down a big mouthful of liquor.

Thanks to the support and care of Eunuch Wei, Shen Lian's life in the capital must be very good.

Ride a fat horse, wear light furs, and drink strong liquor.

Compared with Ping Liaohou's hard-working, self-disciplined and abstaining from desires in Liaodong, Captain Shen's life in the capital can be described as extravagant and decadent.

"Don't look at women anymore, I'll treat you to some wine later! Give me some snacks tonight, I want to catch a big fish!"

After Shen Lian finished speaking, he turned his gaze back to the bustling street.

"Captain Shen, this traitor Yuan deserves death. He can't even let me have peace of mind during the New Year. I can't even eat hot dumplings at home! My wife can't even sleep on the kang, and you've even made me suffer the cold here!"

"I just ate dumplings. Have you guys eaten yet? I'll treat you later."

"It's New Year's Day, how can we let Captain Shen spend money?"

Zhao Yuanzhi smiled coquettishly. He was also born in Zhejiang Province. After a few months, he had become Shen Lian's confidant.

Before Shen Lian could speak, a lean and slender Tiqi beside him said:
"Yeah, I've been on night patrol all the time. I haven't had sex with my wife for many days. She won't even let me get on the bed..."

Shen Lian raised his whip to hit him, pretending to curse, "Get lost, Lu Jianxing, do you have a wife? Whose wife are you sleeping with?"

Everyone laughed.

Shen Lian shared the wine in the coconut ladle with his brothers.

Zhao Yuanzhi drank two sips, and suddenly saw Shen Lian Feiyu swallowing the black lacquer and gilded embroidered spring sword, and exclaimed:

"Hey, what day is it today? You even brought the imperial gift of the Embroidered Spring Sword."

"Only a handsome man like you can wear the Embroidered Spring Blade and Flying Fish Clothes. Wearing this outfit, you look more majestic than the generals in the Palace of Heavenly Purity! No wonder everyone says that Master Shen is the most handsome man in the East Factory. Is it..."

"Get out of here and get to work!"

The Ming Dynasty Jinyiwei's flying fish costumes and embroidered spring swords were only worn during royal celebrations, just like the golden armor worn by Han generals. They were only ceremonial in nature and not common in actual combat. It is of course nonsense to cosplay in flying fish costumes like the protagonists in movies and novels.

Shen Lian raised his sword and pointed it at Chongwen Gate:
"The dumplings are in the pot, you can eat them whenever you want. Your wife is in Yuehua Tower. I've caught Luo Sigong today, so I'll take you to a feast!"

When they heard that they were going to Yuehua Tower, everyone smiled lewdly and unconsciously clenched the goose-feather knives in their hands.

"Zhao Yuanzhi and a few of his brothers are blocking the back door of the Luo Mansion. This bastard has a lot of assassins. Keep your eyes open and don't let any of them escape! I'll go in and arrest them myself later! Kill them first, then confiscate their property!"

After hearing this, Zhao Yuanzhi immediately selected a few people and rode his horse to Luo's house.

Shen Lian looked at the bustling crowd and drew out the embroidered spring sword bestowed by the emperor.

The lights are dim, caressing the sharp blade:
"Brother Dao, we're going to drink blood again tonight!"

~~~~~
Shen Lian couldn't remember how many times he had helped the factory manager to get someone out.

Upon the new emperor's ascension to the throne, Wei Zhongxian was promoted to the position of Chief Eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, in charge of the Eastern Depot, and his power was overwhelming.

Eunuch Wei, who took charge of the East Factory, did not forget his former good brothers.

Under his promotion, Tian Ergeng, Xu Xianchun, Xu Yingyuan, Shi Yuanya and others were arranged into the Silijian.

The father-in-law and eunuchs who had bullied Wei Zhongxian before were either exiled to Nanjing or killed directly. In short, their end was miserable.

Wei Zhongxian took good care of Shen Lian. He wanted Shen Lian to enter the palace. He invited Shen Lian to cut off his penis several times so that he could be promoted to a thousand households. However, Shen Lian was obsessed with his children and did not dare to enter the palace. Wei Zhongxian assured this younger brother that he knew Liu Yidao from the Jingshifang. This man had great knife skills. Moreover, if he did not cut it completely, it would leave a trace of his thoughts to Shen Lian.

Shen Lian rejected Wei Zhongxian's kindness again and again.

"Thank you for your kindness, Eunuch Wei. I do not wish to enter the palace, nor do I want to be a factory manager. This good thing should be left to Zeng Tianxing and the others."

Zeng Tianxing is Xu Xianchun's nephew. Like Shen Lian, he works in the Northern Pacification Office, but the two do not get along.

Seeing that Shen Lian was so cowardly and stubborn, Wei Zhongxian had no choice but to arrange for him to be a centurion in the Pacification Office first. After he rebuilt the Western Factory, he would forcibly castrate him and send him to the Western Factory to be the factory manager.

As the saying goes, the east and the west are both in bloom, and the palace is my home.

The person involved, Shen Lian, was kept in the dark and knew nothing about it.

Eunuch Wei was not idle after he came to power. He knew that civil servants were powerful, so he started to win over Beijing officials early on, giving them money and apologizing with a very sincere attitude. He hoped that these upright gentlemen could stand with the Imperial Household Department and help Emperor Taichang accomplish great things.

In order to show his sincerity, Eunuch Wei personally visited the Donglin Party and the Zhejiang Party, and brought a lot of gifts every time he visited.

When Eunuch Wei stood at the door of the imperial censors and officials in Beijing, holding gifts and business cards, in order to show the integrity of the literati, the officials were cold to the new eunuch with a smile on his face.

Censor Yang Lian even threw gold, silver, jewelry, calligraphy and paintings, and antiques out of the door, and suggested that Wei Zhongxian go to the Yongding River to wash himself and wash away the dirt.

In addition to Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Yuan Huazhong, Wei Dazhong, Zhou Chaorui, Gu Dazhang and other Donglin gentlemen also did their best to humiliate the Nine Thousand Years Old.

Wei Zhongxian greeted all kinds of sarcasm with a smile, endured it again and again, and maintained the utmost humility.

However, the civil officials believed that the Xinchang official was easy to bully, a soft persimmon like Lu Shou. Since he was a soft persimmon, they needed to squeeze him. So the censors submitted memorials demanding an audit of the accounts of the 24 supervisors and the dismissal of the mining and tax supervisors established in various places during the Wanli reign.

The Donglin gentlemen strongly demanded the recall of mining supervisors from all over the country and the cessation of mining taxes, because the court could not compete with the people for profits.

In fact, after the 42nd year of Wanli, the old emperor gradually took back the mining supervisors in various places, leaving only some mines in Huguang, Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang that had not been closed.

Wei Zhongxian, a shrewd man who had risen through the ranks of the thugs, was well-versed in the intricacies of mining taxes and supervision. He certainly wouldn't agree to these demands. The Ming Dynasty mines were as fraught with problems as the grain transport system, leaving many accounts murky and difficult to account for. Furthermore, the court was short of money, so any extra revenue was appreciated.

The mining supervisors who were sent out had long been replaced by Eunuch Wei's confidants. Taking action against these henchmen was the same as taking action against Wei Zhongxian.

As the saying goes, when beating a dog, you have to look at the owner first.

What made Wei Zhongxian even more unbearable was that after Yuan Yingtai's death, the military leaders in Liaozhen seemed to have restrained themselves a lot, but secretly asked the censor to impeach Liu Zhaosun, saying that Ping Liaohou had seized land on a large scale, colluded with the Imperial Household Department, and intended to rebel.

The old tune of exploiting the people was nothing, and Eunuch Wei didn't care much about it. He just impeached him for making friends with the eunuchs, pointed the finger at the Imperial Household Department, and suggested that the emperor execute Old Wei, which was intolerable.

Since Wei Zhongxian came to power, he had never taken the initiative to provoke these civil servants. Otherwise, he could not understand even after seven days and seven nights why the Donglin gentlemen always regarded him as a thorn in their side and wanted to go to war with him.

What Eunuch Wei didn't know was that eunuchs were inherently sinful. This group represented decadence and immorality, and was the object of scorn by all upright gentlemen and scholars. It seemed that if eunuchs were eliminated, all problems would be solved.

Eunuchs in power were a thorn in the side of upright people. In their eyes, all the chaos in the Ming Dynasty, from the Liaodong rebellion to the Sima Jian's infertility, were inextricably linked to the eunuchs.

Now, everyone wants to humiliate Wei Zhongxian.

Jiu Qiansui, who comes from the fighting industry, has a very simple way of thinking.

A tooth for a tooth, blood for blood. This is intolerable! Since you don't accept the toast, you will have to drink the penalty wine. Don't blame the factory manager for being rude.

Under the instructions of Wei Zhongxian, the action of liquidating Yuan Yingtai's rebel party was quickly launched among the officials in Beijing.

Yuan Yingtai was originally a member of the Donglin Party. Although the Donglin Party was a very loose organization, it could not even be called an organization. However, as long as everyone served as an official in the capital, they would be more or less involved with each other.

Emperor Taichang did not interfere with Wei Zhongxian's actions because he was very busy recently. As in history, Zhu Changluo became addicted to women soon after he ascended the throne.

Eunuch Wei followed the advice of Marquis Ping Liao and tried every means to prevent the eunuchs and civil officials from presenting Qian Jinji as a gift.

Regardless, the emperor acquiesced to Wei Zhongxian's actions in the capital. These days, Shen Lian, acting as Wei's sharp knife, went on a killing spree in the capital, dealing with those civil servants who attacked and humiliated the eunuch.

After dealing with those crazy censors, tonight Shen Lian is going to arrest Luo Sigong, the former commander of the Jinyiwei, the Prince's tutor, the Junior Guardian and the Prince's Grand Tutor, and the Left Commander-in-Chief of the Rear Army.

Note:
1. Shi Xuan's "Old Capital Relics": "When there are auspicious occasions, women ride in large sedan chairs, wearing bright red python robes, and are full of extravagance."

(End of this chapter)