Jinyi Town Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 329 Pillow Wind

It's night, He Mansion.

He Liu's family gathered around the table to eat and talk.

He Liu told Bai Xiaoyan about Lady Tina of Utrecht.

Bai Xiaoyan thought for a long time after hearing this, and said: "The matter of this Xiyi woman has already involved party disputes in the court."

Over the years, Bai Xiaoyan has made friends with noble ladies and high officials in Beijing and China, and weaved a huge network of relationships.Sometimes her news is better than He Liu's.

He Liu asked, "How do you say it?"

Bai Xiaoyan talked eloquently: "Today, two opposing factions have formed in the court. One is the conservative faction, headed by Gao Gong. Zhu Xixiao has now turned to the Gao party. The other is the reformist faction, headed by Zhang Juzheng, officials in the court. , regard you as Zhang Juzheng's party."

He Liu was surprised and said, "Me? I'm in the same party as Zhang Juzheng? How come I don't know? Why do the officials of the court and China think so?"

Bai Xiaoyan said: "Who made you get so close to Zhang Juzheng before? Just listen to me. In the past few days, the focus of the debate between the conservatives and the reformers in the DPRK and China is whether to abolish the ancestral system of sealing off the sea. This barbarian girl If Tina is acquitted, the reformists have won. If Tina is punished by the Ming Dynasty, the conservatives have won."

Lao Hu said from the side: "Where there are people, there will be fights. What's more, those people in the court are all two-ranked Jinshi, they can be regarded as human spirits! Where human spirits gather, the fight is the most fierce! Sixth, who will you help?" , don’t help anyone, you have a plan in mind.”

He Liudao: "To put it bluntly, it's about choosing which side to stand on. It's complicated and complicated, and it's simple and simple. Whoever can benefit the people of Ming Dynasty, I, He Liu, will sit on that side."

Bai Xiaoyan said: "You have not been here for two days, and the censors under Gao Gong's hands are really fascinated by eating shit! They actually asked the emperor to transfer Qi Jiguang from Jizhou to Shandong! There is no way, who let Qi Jiguang go with Zhang Juzheng What about closeness? Marshal Qi naturally became the enemy of Gao Dang."

He Liu was horrified: "Your Majesty, please don't approve of this memorial! Marshal Qi managed to go to Jizhou to take charge of the army. As soon as this famous general leaves, the Tatars will go south to join the bandits again!"

Bai Xiaoyan said: "The emperor is not stupid! He scolded those censors for misleading the country. He also said: Even if Qi Jiguang didn't charge forward, just standing on the city wall of Jizhou, Qi Hu's reputation would be as high as 20 Thousands of troops, tens of millions of taels of military expenditure."

He Liu breathed a sigh of relief: "The emperor is still wise."

Lao Hu took a sip of his wine and said, "The emperor is a sage. For example, he advocates frugality and hard work... These advantages are incomparable to the previous emperor. However, his art of manipulating people still follows the previous emperor's. That set: Divide and rule the courtiers, instigate the courtiers to fight against each other. He does not help anyone, but also helps on both sides. He reaps the benefits of the fisherman. The emperors of all dynasties have actually used this method to control the courtiers."

He Liudao: "Poor that barbarian girl Tina. She originally came to the capital with the intention of being friendly and doing business. But Zhu Xixiao put her in prison instead. Zhu Xixiao supports Gao Gong, so naturally she wants to oppose opening and closing trade. Maybe Tina will be killed Zhu Xixiao executed."

Lao Hu smiled: "Lao Liu, according to your tone, you plan to help Zhang Juzheng in the matter of the sea ban dispute?"

He Liudao: "I'm helping managers and not relatives. Doing business with Xiyi can increase the income of our treasury and benefit the common people. Why do we have to stick to the ancestral system? Speaking of the ancestral system, Lord Hong Wu still has a lot to do with corrupt officials. What about the method of pulling the day lilies? Why didn’t Gao Gong and the others yell to restore the method of pulling the day lilies?”

Bai Xiaoyan suddenly came up with a plan: "Sixth brother, in fact, you really want to save that barbarian girl, but you can't help it. You can ask Concubine Li Gui for mercy! Pillow wind is not only effective in common people's homes, it can also work in the royal family! "

One sentence from Bai Xiaoyan awakened He Liu, he confessed to Bai Xiaoyan so and so.

The next day, Kunning Palace.

Bai Xiaoyan wore the command uniform of the third rank, and led Xiangxiang and Zhong'er into the palace.

Concubine Li Gui complained to Bai Xiaoyan: "Oh, it is said that the gate of the palace is as deep as the sea. When the emperor ascended the throne, I became a noble concubine. Those mahjong players in the past never came to me again. That is, you girl still want to With this palace."

Xiangxiang said sweetly: "My mother misses the imperial concubine, and Xiangxiang and Zhong'er also miss the imperial concubine."

Concubine Li Gui waved to Xiangxiang and Zhong'er: "You two elves, sit by the side of this palace."

Bai Xiaoyan smiled and said: "I'm still talking about those mahjong players. The empress is now a noble concubine, who dares to win the money from the imperial concubine? That's right. The concubine's trip to the palace is to give gifts to the imperial concubine."

Concubine Li Gui said: "Oh? What kind of gift is this? Present it."

Several young eunuchs brought up some brocade boxes.

Bai Xiaoyan first opened one of the brocade boxes, and took out a pair of western reading glasses: "I heard that Uncle Wu Qing is getting old, and this pair of western reading glasses is for the noble concubine to honor Uncle Wu Qing."

Western presbyopic glasses have been passed from the west to Ming Dynasty via Guangzhou since the Zhengtong period.A pair of western reading glasses sold for thousands of taels of silver in the capital.

Concubine Li Gui said with satisfaction: "It's still your heart, thinking of being filial piety on behalf of this palace. I thank you on behalf of Uncle Wu Qing! By the way, Li Gao is now working under He Liu, but is he still obedient?"

Bai Xiaoyan said: "Uncle Guo is a young talent, and he has helped He Liu a lot when he went back to Tianjin to deal with the barbarian case."

In Daming's taboo, only the queen's brother can be called "National Uncle".Li Gao's official official taboo should be "Wu Qing Bo Shizi".Bai Xiaoyan called Li Gao the uncle of the country, which is tantamount to calling Concubine Li Gui the queen.This made Li Guifei very useful.

Concubine Li Gui said: "If he doesn't listen to your sixth son in the future, you can tell me to listen to him. Bengong will teach him a lesson for the sixth son!"

Bai Xiaoyan opened the second brocade box, which contained a pair of beautiful Western diamond earrings.

The little eunuch presented the diamond earrings to Concubine Li, and Concubine Li liked it very much.

Bai Xiaoyan opened the third brocade box.Inside the brocade box is a small western clock.

She said: "Young concubine, this thing is very interesting. When it arrives on time, look here, a little bird can pop out and chirp."

Concubine Li Gui nodded: "It's really a coincidence."

Bai Xiaoyan said: "This is the fourth gift. I'm afraid it's not in compliance with the rules. I brought a cook and wanted him to cook a table of dishes for the imperial concubine. But ordinary cooks are not allowed in the imperial dining room... "

Concubine Li Gui smiled and said, "What's so difficult about this? Feng Bao, the supervisor of ceremonies, is in charge of the imperial dining room as well as the imperial horse supervisor. I will tell him to do it."

Bai Xiaoyan talked with Concubine Li Gui for a while, and it was almost noon when the cook she brought cooked lunch.

For this lunch, the cook used peppers, sweet potatoes and several kinds of overseas ingredients brought by Tina Yuanhang.

Concubine Li Gui has a bad appetite recently.But today's lunch was a feast.

Bai Xiaoyan explained in detail at the side: "Imperial concubine, this is fried pork with chili, and this is steamed sweet potato slices..."

Concubine Li finished her imperial meal, and Bai Xiaoyan suddenly knelt down for her: "Your Majesty, I want to complain for a woman!"

(End of this chapter)