Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 71: Lu Bing: You're not impressed by my background! (Please subscribe!)
In later generations, it took about three hours to fly from Guangzhou to Beijing.

Now, it takes three months for an ordinary person without privileges to travel from Guangzhou to the capital.

That was really too long, so Hai Yue and his group followed the Jinyiwei, the Annan delegation and the prison car, taking a mixed route that was mainly water transportation and connected by land transportation.

First, take a boat from Guangzhou Prefecture, go north along the Beijiang River, pass Qingyuan and Yingde to Shaoguan, then from Shaoguan to Nan'an Prefecture, Jiangxi, cross the Meiling Ancient Road, board a boat at Nan'an Prefecture, follow the Ganjiang River through Ganzhou, Ji'an, Nanchang into Poyang Lake, and then turn onto the Yangtze River to Zhenjiang.

During this process, if you go downstream, you can walk about 100 to 180 miles a day. If you go upstream, you need to pull a boat, and you can only walk about 30 miles a day.

Next is the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal section, which is smooth. Zhenjiang passes through the lock and enters the canal, passing through Yangzhou, Huai'an, Jining, Linqing, Tianjin to Tongzhou. If the canal boats go downstream, the average daily speed is about 70 miles. However, if they are civilian ships without background, they will inevitably be restricted and difficult, and the journey will often be delayed.

Finally we arrived in Tongzhou, and the land route to Beijing was not far away.

This whole process, even with the use of the privileges of express horses at the post station and grain ships, traveling day and night, working the horses to death and tiring the men to death, would still take more than twenty days. Under normal circumstances, it would naturally be more than double that. For example, in the 34th year of Jiajing, the Governor of Guangdong went to Beijing to report on his work, and the time it took to transfer on the post road was 41 days.

Haiyue and his party headed north, naturally taking the official road. The journey was long, and while they enjoyed the scenery on both sides at first, they soon became bored.

Only Lu Bing didn't think so.

"The True and False Monkey King is truly remarkable. Was it inspired by the Annan envoys?"

"Uh... a little bit..."

"Oh my! How could the Six-Eared Macaque be beaten to death? With such magical powers, isn't it a pity?"

"It's a pity indeed."

"Wouldn't Red Boy be able to convert to Guanyin Bodhisattva and become a Good Fortune Boy? So many monsters ahead have also been taken back...hiss!"

"Don't you think it's reasonable?"

"Reasonable."

Hai Rui and Lin Daqin were not surprised to hear his expression of sometimes applauding and sometimes thinking carefully.

This is the case for everyone who watches Journey to the West for the first time.

If you watch it a few more times, you will find it.

Still so wonderful!
It’s really unforgettable!
The only thing that made Hai Rui a little regretful was that Lu Bing was reading his own book. He had originally wanted to read it again, but now he could only study hard with Lin Daqin.

"You said that if I could turn into the Bull Demon King, it would be like Princess Iron Fan... Tsk!"

However, facts proved that Lu Bing preferred vulgar things. After borrowing the banana fan for the third time, he pondered the plot with his imagination. When he turned the page, his expression suddenly changed: "That's all?"

At this time, Hai Yue was no longer in the room. Hai Rui found out that he had finished reading it, so he reached out and tried to pull it, but it didn't move.

Lu Bing clutched the book tightly and asked anxiously, "Where's your brother? Why hasn't he finished writing yet?"

Hai Rui said, "It's not finished yet."

Lin Daqin smiled and said, "Shisanlang has written quite a lot these days. I heard from Shishilang that when he was in Qiongshan, he stopped writing for over a year after finishing the 30th chapter. We are very lucky and should be content!"

"So that's it..."

Seeing Hai Rui staring intently at the book in his hand, Lu Bing quickly put it back in his arms and chuckled, "Lend it to me again! I'll return it to you tomorrow! I'll return it to you tomorrow! Where's Shisanlang?"

Hai Rui: "Brother has gone to Mr. Zhou's house."

Lu Bing's smile paused, and he sighed, "Shisanlang is a true character. There's no benefit in contacting Zhou Xuan at this moment, but he never considers gains and losses..."

Haiyue was indeed in Zhou Xuan's room.

The old man was wearing prison clothes, his white hair a little disheveled. Even though he had received Lu Bing's care and was not wearing the wooden shackles of a serious criminal, he seemed a little depressed. At this time, he also said something similar: "You should go back. Don't get involved with me. It will damage your future!"

"Mr. Zhou is worrying too much. I'm just a scholar now. What's the point of having a future?"

Hai Yue knew very well the importance of hygiene, epidemic prevention and food security on board when sailing for a long time. Zhou Xuan was a prisoner and was also old. To put it bluntly, under normal circumstances, he would probably fall ill on the way to Beijing and then die in the capital. It happened that he died of fear of crime, and all the government offices were very happy.

Treating him like that was too unfair, so Haiyue came to take care of him whenever she was free. She fumigated the house with atractylodes and mugwort to kill the bacteria before helping Zhou Xuan back inside. "I feel comfortable doing this. When doing things, I don't seek to achieve great things, but only to have a clear conscience!"

"I have a clear conscience... I have a clear conscience..."

Zhou Xuan showed a look of shame and lowered his head. "I am absolutely not wronged. Although I have never harmed anyone personally, Fang Wei dared to act so recklessly. It is because we covered up his crimes and invisibly harmed the innocent..."

"Indeed!"

Hai Yue nodded. "If it were just you, I'd be so desperate to throw vegetable leaves at you! Mr. Zhou, do you know that Shao Tuiguan, the governor of Qiongzhou Prefecture, is also a good official who works diligently for the people. He wholeheartedly takes you as his role model. Now that he knows about the big case in Guangzhou Prefecture, I'm afraid the sky is falling! Before I left, I wrote him a letter. I don't know if he can understand..."

In a sense, Zhou Xuan is also a portrayal of many grassroots officials. He is upright and honest, lives in poverty, does not go along with corruption, and is capable and able to handle local government affairs. As a result, he works diligently all his life, but when he is old, he makes a wrong decision and his reputation is ruined.

So Hai Yue continued, "But compared to the unshakable Provincial Administration Office and those officials who have been transferred elsewhere, the fate of you, an iron-faced judge who has enforced the law impartially for most of your life, will make those evildoers even more unscrupulous! Don't say that I will take care of you now. If you go to the capital, I really have the ability to protect you!"

"Don't do that!"

Zhou Xuan was moved.

Haiyue ignored him and started working.

Zhou Xuan knew that he couldn't persuade him, so he sighed softly, and a hint of gentleness appeared in his eyes.

A friend in need is a friend indeed. Although he had spent his entire life wandering around Guangdong and Guangxi, he had become a provincial censor and had many people to curry favor with. However, once the case came to light, his following was suddenly deserted. In the end, it was this young man, whom he had known for less than two months, who remained by his side during his final days: "In the end, is there only one person left who I can truly rely on?"

Haiyue had sharp ears and eyes, and even if the old man was just mumbling, she could hear it clearly. She was busy with her hands and said without looking up, "Is one less?"

"Well! Quite a lot! Of course not a lot!"

Zhou Xuan smiled, his wrinkles smoothed out, and his former spirit finally returned. He waved, "Come here!"

Hai Yue thought that your tone sounded like a hidden master who was going to pass on his century-old skills to me, but she still walked over.

But when Zhou Xuan lowered his voice and began to speak, he raised his brows and listened carefully.

Half an hour later, when Hai Yue returned to the room with a thoughtful look on her face, she was greeted by Lu Bing: "What happened after the Flame Mountain Tribulation?"

Haiyue said, "That's all. It only goes up to the part where I borrow the palm-leaf fan three times and cross the Flaming Mountain."

Lu Bing's eyes were filled with eagerness: "We still have more than a month to go, why don't you make full use of it and write more?" Hai Yue had seen a lot and was also experienced. She blocked the way for urging for more with one sentence: "You must know that writing is a natural process, a rare achievement of a master's hand, so don't rush it."

"That makes sense!"

Lu Bing agreed: "There's really no need to rush! There's no need to rush!"

But after thinking about it, he still couldn't bear it, so he came closer and said mysteriously: "Shisanlang, His Majesty will definitely like your new version of Journey to the West. Do you know what this opportunity is?"

"My hobbies collide with my boss's hobbies. What kind of opportunity is this? This is a chance to make my ancestors come back to life! The ladder of life!"

"Hmm, it really seems like a ladder to heaven..."

Haiyue suddenly thought of the lines from a classic skit in later generations and laughed in her heart, then thought again: "I hope Jiajing will not become more obsessed with Taoism after watching Journey to the West. That would be my fault!"

Speaking of which, Jiajing at the time had not yet become obsessed with monasticism.

The reason why Zhu Houcong practiced Taoism was that he had been weak since childhood and often fell ill. After he ascended the throne, his attendants suggested that he could strengthen his body by practicing Taoism.

So, in the second year of Jiajing, he set up a Taoist temple in the palace and officially began his Taoist career.

This is understandable and not a big deal at all.

There were basically Taoist temples and Buddhist halls in the imperial palaces of all dynasties. The emperors either worshipped Buddhism or practiced Taoism. Those who had no faith at all were a minority. After all, religion was also a part of the rule, and religion would tacitly assist the rulers and strengthen the ideological imprint of divinely granted imperial power.

The key lies in whether you are addicted or whether you have gone to extremes.

At this stage, Jiajing is not addicted yet, but just curious. Haiyue doesn't want her Journey to the West to completely arouse his addiction.

But on second thought, this is a bit wishful thinking.

In the later years of Jiajing's reign, he became obsessed with practicing Taoism and almost ignored everything else. The root cause was the emptiness he felt after completely grasping the imperial power.

The emperor has no worldly pursuits, so his eyes can only look up to the sky, hoping for immortality and a lifespan as long as the heavens.

Zhu Houcong, now 24 years old, does not have such thoughts. His ideas are still those of a normal emperor. He hopes to work hard to govern the country and revitalize the country. Even if he cannot become an emperor of all ages, he must at least leave his name in history and be praised as a wise ruler by future generations.

So Journey to the West is just a hobby.

Even so, Lu Bing was surprised to see that Hai Yue was still unmoved. She was really unmoved. That was the emperor's favor. Then he sighed secretly: "Shisanlang is good in everything, but his ambition is really lacking!"

You really don't know how to make progress!
I'm worried about you!
But having said that, it's time to reveal his true background.

"Cough cough!"

Lu Bing followed Hai Yue back to the room, coughed twice, attracting the attention of the three people in the room, and slowly said: "The capital is approaching, there are some things I won't hide from you..."

Hai Rui and Lin Daqin suddenly became serious.

The latter was secretly trembling.

After getting along with Lu Bing, he found that the Jinyiwei were not as scary as the rumors said, and there were still good people among them. But after all, he had heard about the evil deeds of the Jinyiwei since he was a child. When he saw Lu Bing being serious, he was still subconsciously a little scared.

Only Haiyue looked at his expression and vaguely noticed something.

He originally wanted to get along with us as an ordinary Jinyiwei, but as we are getting closer and closer to the capital, he will definitely not be able to pretend when he gets there. Should he come clean?

As expected, Lu Bing spoke in a resounding voice, emphasizing each word: "In fact, I am not only a member of the Imperial Guard, but also a descendant of Prince Xing's Mansion!"

Having said this, he paused at just the right moment.

Everyone in the world knows that Emperor Wuzong had no son, and Your Majesty the present succeeded to the throne as a vassal prince.

And the title of that vassal king was exactly King Xing.

As expected, Hai Rui blinked his eyes, and Lin Daqin breathed a sigh of relief. Although he didn't know why he was relieved, he at least showed a look of surprise.

Only Haiyue's expression didn't change much. The curiosity in her expression had faded a little. She simply continued the conversation, "So you and His Majesty have known each other for a long time?"

"My mother was your Majesty's wet nurse, so we grew up together..."

A short sentence represents the background of Tongtian.

After saying this, Lu Bing actually became a little nervous and swallowed.

There were some Jinyiwei in the past. At first, they didn’t know his origins, but they all got along well and called each other brothers.

But once they knew that he was a close minister of the emperor in his childhood and was still deeply favored, they immediately became fearful and timid, or even fawning.

Lu Bing found it uninteresting and boring, and soon became alienated from those people.

At the same time, I also understood why His Majesty would sometimes sigh about the loneliness of being alone when he entered the palace.

The emperor, who sits on the supreme throne, no longer has a friend with whom he can confide completely. Even he, the emperor's favorite minister, cannot have a friend who is not after fame and fortune.

This time when I went south to Guangdong, I met Haiyue.

The unique young scholar, with outstanding talent, is also a man of temperament, with a bright heart and a sense of loyalty, which is exactly what he likes!
Not only Hai Yue, but after interacting with Hai Rui and Lin Daqin, he also felt their talent and persistence, and was greatly surprised!
Guangdong is truly a land of outstanding people and beautiful scenery...

Something seemed to be wrong, but I couldn't care less!

But all this is based on the premise that the other party does not know one's background.

After today's revelation, will these people in front of me become just like my former Jinyiwei friends, becoming anxious and worried, gradually alienating me, and I will no longer have friends with such a compatible temperament?
"No wonder Wenfu is so genuine and thrives in the Imperial Guards!"

However, Haiyue's reaction was very calm, as if she was a little surprised, but mostly smiling: "Then if we encounter any injustice in the capital, I hope you can take care of us!"

Lu Bing raised his thick eyebrows and looked at Hai Rui and Lin Daqin again.

The two were quite surprised, but they were also secretly delighted at the chance to rise to prominence without making such a powerful friend. Lin Daqin said sincerely, "It's a blessing to have a good person like Brother Wenfu in the Jinyiwei!"

Although Lu Bing had already imagined that these three might be different, he had never imagined they could be so indifferent. After a moment's pause, he grinned and laughed heartily: "Hahaha! Great, great! Getting to know you three brothers is truly a great pleasure in life! I really made the right decision to come south this time!"

(End of this chapter)