The sun never sets

Alcohol is harmful to the human body. Other aromas are nothing but some chemical substances. Health preservation and fitness are all nonsense. Some people are physically strong and drinking a little will not harm them, that's all.

After calling for help to come in and help Wang Zuolin and the others back, Lin Yongchang staggered back to the room that was assigned to him, muttering to himself, "I swear, I will never drink again...unless it is necessary!"

Wuyun Qiqige was also at the banquet just now and wanted to drink, but Lin Yongchang stopped her because she was still young. At this time, she followed him into the room and said with a smile: "Men have to drink. If they don't drink and don't get drunk, are they still called men?"

"Whether you are a man or not is not determined by whether you can drink."

Lin Yongchang asked someone to bring a basin of cold water, wiped himself roughly, and then lay down on the kang. As soon as he got up, he felt tired and sleepy. Something got into the quilt and pressed into his arms. He muttered, "Don't drink and drive, don't drive after drinking..."

It seemed like there was a sound coming from far away, but he didn't hear anything clearly and fell asleep in a daze. When the new arrival came, his chest felt heavy, and he used his hands to pull it. Wuyun Qiqige rolled to the side and slept soundly.

"Giggle!"

The sound of a rooster crowing could be heard outside, and the tone gradually rose and became unusually sharp. Because of the freezing weather, it was already dawn outside, but there were not many people on the street. Lin Yongchang got up from the bed, walked into the yard with his bare chest, fetched a bucket of water, and poured it on his head in the cold wind to wash away the remaining smell of alcohol on his body.

His muscles are not exaggerated, but they have some edges and corners. After all, he used to make a living by speaking and thinking, and he only exercised for health, not to learn from Long and conquer the world with fists. After crossing over, he got a lot of benefits and became much stronger. These days, although he mainly practiced riding, he also did physical exercise, so his muscles looked pretty good.

Well water is cool in the summer, but warm in the winter. I didn't feel cold when I poured it on my body, but rather a warm feeling. I fetched a few more buckets of water and used a towel to rub my body until it was red. This was considered the end of the wash. I washed and exercised until my body gradually became warm, then I stopped.

Others got up one after another, and the noise around them became louder, but Wang Zuolin and other leaders did not show up until more than an hour later, when Wang Zuolin finally got up from the kang. Lin Yongchang did not say anything when he saw this, but he reaffirmed that he would try not to drink anymore in the future, and even if he had to drink, he would never get drunk.

If the enemy had attacked last night, the leader of the Boxer Rebellion would have been so drunk that he would have been captured in one fell swoop. How did the Wuchao drunkard Chunyu Qiong end up? It was because of drinking! Chunyu Qiong was once one of the Eight Lieutenants of Xiyuan, and was a general with the same official position as Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. After the Battle of Wuchao, Cao Cao had no intention of recruiting Chunyu Qiong. Instead, he cut off his ears and nose and let him go without even bothering to kill him.

After saying goodbye to Wang Zuolin and others, Lin Yongchang took Wuyun Qiqige and others to meet up with Li Wenyong, and then went to Beijing together. Zhangjiakou is located at the junction of Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia, about 180 kilometers away from Beijing. It is not close, but not far. If it were only Lin Yongchang and a few others, they could have walked this distance in four days. But with Li Wenyong, it took eleven days to walk the three or four hundred miles.

However, Lin Yongchang was not in a hurry at this time. He rode under Wuyun Qiqige's guidance during the day and taught the girl some math knowledge at night. It was serious knowledge, not posture and other things. His riding skills improved rapidly, but Wuyun Qiqige didn't learn much because she didn't want to learn at all. Even if Lin Yongchang broke down those knowledge points, the girl just laughed and played.

Lin Yongchang had no choice but to stop teaching her math and instead wrote something every night or told the girl interesting things, like emperor penguins in Antarctica, polar bears in the Arctic, blue whales, seals, kangaroos, etc., as bedtime stories.

Anyway, Wuyun Qiqige was just a little girl. She left her familiar hometown and followed him to the capital. After the initial excitement, she began to miss home. She didn't say it, but how could Lin Yongchang not see it? So, tell her a few more stories.

After what happened that night, Wuyun Qiqige would always pester him to sleep with her every night. He didn't agree at first, but he couldn't resist the girl's soft and hard persuasion, and besides, they were just sleeping together, nothing else, so he just let her do it. The main reason was that the weather was very cold, and he had the passive effect of [Immune to Cold and Heat], so his body was very warm and could be used as a stove without fuel.

It snowed for several days, and it was cloudy for several days, making the roads difficult to travel, but there was an endless stream of caravans heading to the capital. As the capital of the old empire, the capital was a large consumable city, consuming a lot of rice, flour, meat, firewood and other daily necessities every day. As long as it was not raining, people could be seen coming and going.

The closer they were to the capital, the denser the population, and the more excited Li Wenyong became. He would often sing a few lines after smoking opium. When he rested in the inn at night, he would call on prostitutes or prostitutes who half-closed the door and have sex. Lin Yongchang set a monthly ban for his cavalry and escort warriors.

After receiving the salary of two silver coins, the Mongolian cavalrymen and Tibetan followers, like Li Wenyong, would call women at night and get drunk.

Lin Yongchang didn't say anything about this, he just watched coldly. The army of the old times was just like this. They were brave, but they couldn't be counted on for discipline. If the military discipline was really strict, the Dalai Lama wouldn't have run around to seek foreign aid, and the Mongols wouldn't have been kept in captivity by the court.

Chapter 27 Yellow Croaker

On the way from Zhangjiakou to the capital, Lin Yongchang had been carefully observing the situation along the way. Just like in Zhangjiakou, the Boxer Rebellion was surging in this area of Hebei on the way to the capital. Almost every village had an altar and Boxers. This was certainly a reflection of the people's resentment towards foreigners, but a large part of the reason was that the court was plundering excessively, and the people really couldn't stand it, so they pulled up poles, set up militias, and armed themselves to resist taxes.

The imperial court's thousands of taxes were already overwhelming the people. Officials, the military, the royal family, and a large group of Eight Banners descendants were all sucking blood from the people. The people had long been complaining, but the imperial court had no sympathy. Instead, because of the loss to the Japanese, it had to extort more than 2 million taels of silver from the people.

The governors and governors-general in the south had long been obedient to orders rather than announcements. From the Taiping Rebellion to the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the power of the warlords in the south had been expanding. It was not until the Beiyang Fleet was completely wiped out that the expansion momentum of the governors and governors-general in the south was stopped.

The only places that the imperial court could fully control were Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi, and the three northeastern provinces. The three northeastern provinces were not included. The willow border policy resulted in a small population in the three northeastern provinces, and there were deserted places everywhere. It was not until after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 that the population in the northeast gradually increased, and now it is difficult to find people to collect taxes.

Most of the 200 million taels of indemnity fell on the people of Henan, Hebei, Shandong and Shanxi. And we all know that if the court collected one tael of silver, the officials below would at least double it, and that was considered conscientious. It was possible to increase it by five or ten times. In the past, the gentry and the powerful could transfer taxes to the poor people. Now the money to be collected is too much. The gentry can barely get away with it because there are officials in their families, and the powerful have also been severely punished.

So the powerful people could not stand it anymore and simply stood on the side of the common people. This is one of the reasons why the Boxer Rebellion was so turbulent and in full swing. When was there no civil uprising in the Jin Dynasty? Why did the Boxer Rebellion suddenly break out so violently? It was because a large number of powerful people and scholars joined in.

The power of the Boxers was so strong that the imperial court did not know what to do. The officers and soldiers were certainly better at fighting than the Boxers. Whether it was Yuan Weiting's new army, Nie Shicheng's Wuwei Front Army, or the traditional Shaanxi-Gansu Green Camp, their combat effectiveness was much stronger than that of the general Boxers. The problem was that there were too many Boxers. There were hundreds of thousands of them in Hebei alone, and they were all fighting in their hometowns. Their morale was quite good. If a fight really broke out, the officers and soldiers could win ten or a hundred battles, but they could not strangle all the Boxers in a short period of time.

When the Nian Rebellion was suppressed, the imperial court spent a lot of effort, and even the famous general Senggelinqin of the imperial court died in the battle. Now the Boxers are more numerous than the Nian Rebellion, and the territory they occupy is more than twice as large. How many troops will be mobilized to win? Moreover, the war will definitely be prolonged, and the imperial court is not ready to suppress it by force for the time being.

The composition of the Boxers was too complex to be suppressed by force. They could be divided and won over. In fact, the imperial court did just that, and many of the Boxer leaders contacted the government. From Wang Zuolin's performance, it can be seen that the Boxers had a simple sense of patriotism and were dissatisfied with the imperial court and foreigners, but they were not determined to fight the imperial court to the end. Many people took one step at a time and did not have long-term plans.

But this is only temporary. As time goes by, the Boxers will merge and annex each other, and small forces will become large forces. The expansion of military strength and base will bring greater ambitions. As the Boxers grow bigger, sooner or later they will have to fight with the imperial court, and everyone will have to choose sides.

It is hard to say which side Wang Zuolin and others will choose, but Li Wenyong will definitely stand on the side of the court. When he was in Zhangbei, Li Wenyong was a little restrained. The people there were too barbaric. If they were pushed to the limit, they might draw their swords and chop people, and then run away to the grassland, and not even their shadows could be found. Every year, people go to Kulun Night Raid Group: 69④⑨, 3613⑤, the three provinces in the east or Hetao to make a living, and the government does not have the energy to find and arrest people.

But it was different when he arrived in the capital. This was the place where the imperial court had the strongest power. When a dragon came, it had to coil up, and when a tiger came, it had to lie down. When Li Wenyong returned to the capital, it was like returning home. He was shaking all over. As a servant in the mansion of Prince Qing Yixin, Li Wenyong could walk sideways in the capital and didn't even have to pay for meals.

Even though Lin Yongchang is doing very well in Zhangbei and Zhangjiakou, he is nothing in Beijing!

Li Wenyong's attitude towards Lin Yongchang became more and more arrogant. After paying the entrance fee, this good servant was simply bossing him around. "Just wait here. I'll go pay my respects to Prince Qing first. I'll see when he's free, and then I'll call you over. Do you understand?"

Lin Yongchang smiled and said, "Why bother? We can just go there directly."

"Hey, you

How can you not understand the rules? That's Prince Qing! The hereditary iron-hat prince! How can he receive you casually? "

"How do I know the prince won't meet me if I don't try?"

Lin Yongchang stubbornly led his men to the door of Prince Qing Yixin, but was stopped by the gatekeeper as expected, without even a word of notification. As the saying goes: The prime minister's door is for a seventh-rank official, so what rank must the most powerful prince be?

Li Wenyong sneered, "I told you a long time ago that the prince is very busy, how can we just meet casually?"

"Hey, isn't this Li Daguanshi? Why are you returning to Beijing from that nice place called Zhangbei?"

The doorman glanced at the ignorant stranger and started chatting with Li Wenyong in a familiar manner. Lin Yongchang didn't believe it. How could a mere doorman really stop him? So he opened the cart, took out ten large yellow croakers from the cart, stuffed them directly into the doorman's hand, and then asked with a smile: "Can this help pass on a message? We are sent by the Dalai Lama."

Li Wenyong's eyes were red as he watched from the side. He had been working on this for so long, and besides wanting to be transferred back to the capital, wasn't it just to make some money by acting as a matchmaker? But in the end, Niu Er got the advantage!

Mine, all mine! All the gold is mine! Li Wenyong shouted wildly in his heart.

The man named Lin just gave me ten large yellow croakers, and then he gave away ten more!

The big yellow croaker is a gold bar, one bar weighs one liang and six qian, and ten bars weigh one jin. It's not like the concierge has never seen money before. No matter who comes to ask for an audience, he has to give him money. However, a jin of gold is really a big deal! He immediately changed his expression and said with a smile: "The prince is not at home, but the prince is here, how about I inform you?"

Chapter 28 Who am I?

The guard weighed the yellow croaker in his hand, smiling, but thinking in his heart that the big guy in front of him had such a good-looking face, but he was a fool. Who would carry so much gold around these days? Wouldn't it be more convenient to carry a few silver bills? Could it be that this guy came from the countryside and had never seen silver bills?

When Lin Yongchang heard that Yixin was not there, he thought for a moment and said, "It doesn't matter if the prince is here. It's just a gift of money, so it doesn't matter who it's given to."

The concierge couldn't help laughing, "Yes, it's the same no matter who you give it to, haha!"

He was now certain that the man who came to give money was a big fool. He didn't know where Li met him. Giving money was not a casual thing. Would it be the same to give it to Prince Qing or to Beile Ye? Wait a few days and then see this man's face. It must be very interesting, haha!

The concierge and Li Wenyong did not get along. Although they seemed very friendly, it was all fake. There were only so many positions in the Qing Palace. If Li Wenyong came back, someone would definitely be let out. He also took the money that should have belonged to Li Wenyong. According to the unspoken rules of the servants, this was cutting off Li Wenyong's money, and the two sides became enemies.

It's an enemy, so what? Why should I be afraid of him? The doorman put the gold in his pocket, glanced at Li Wenyong, sneered in his heart, but still smiled on his face. He shook his sleeves and said in a very stylish way: "The others will wait here, I will go and ask Lord Beile what he thinks."

Lin Yongchang felt that the doorman's move just now, the one when he swung his sleeves, was very beautiful. If he hadn't practiced for a long time, he would never be able to swing his sleeves so smoothly. But that move was too feminine. If a woman did it, she would definitely be charming, or like an actor on the stage... Well, these uncles of the Eight Banners all like to walk their birds and listen to operas. Some of them would even go on stage to sing a few lines. The doorman's move of swung his sleeves was probably learned from actors.

The doorman walked into the spacious Prince Qing's mansion and found Zaizhen who was playing with the thrush. Zaizhen was the eldest son of Prince Qing Yixin, and was conferred the title of Zhenguogong. He was good-looking and in good spirits. He was not like other Eight Banners children who liked to smoke opium, nor was he as greedy for money as his father Yixin. Zaizhen usually had only one hobby, which was to love beautiful women. No matter if they were from a good family or an actress, as long as he liked them, he would find ways to get them and taste them.

He looked good, but his behavior was no different from other Eight Banners children, quite a scoundrel. If Yixin hadn't said he would kill anyone who dared to smoke opium, Zaizhen might have also developed the bad habit of smoking opium.

The doorman stood three steps away from Zaizhen and said softly, "My Lord, someone wants to see the prince."

Zai Zhen stared at the thrush in the cage, "You know that the prince has gone to the palace."

"That man came to give money to the prince. I told him that the prince was not here, and he said it would be the same if he gave it to the prince."

"Oh, this is quite interesting." Zai Zhen put down what he was holding and turned around. "Go and ask him to come in."

"twitter!"

A circle of people had already gathered outside the palace. Although those Mongolian cavalrymen looked very barbaric, when had the masters of the capital ever been afraid of this? They were used to seeing princes, nobles, and dignitaries, and were used to big storms. They had a calm attitude towards everything. In one word, "steady!"

The reason they gathered around was not because someone was giving gifts to Prince Qing, but because Lin Yongchang had uncovered the cloth on the car, revealing the golden yellow croaker on it. A few dozen kilograms of gold was not too much in terms of volume, but when it was spread out like this, the golden light almost blinded the eyes of everyone around.

"hiss!"

"Oh, I'll go!"

"what!"

The crowd gasped and was deeply shocked. If it was tens of thousands of taels of silver, even if they had never seen it, they must have heard of it. Prince Qing Yixin was very unsophisticated in accepting money. He would take small amounts as well as large amounts. However, the most he would take at one time was 100,000 taels, which was the most he could take.

But those were all silver bills. How could anyone bring dozens of kilograms of gold at once? And they showed it in broad daylight!

The impact of gold is much greater than that of silver bills. Even though the subjects of the emperor are well-informed, they have never seen anyone bring dozens of kilograms of gold as a gift. How stupid is it to bring a cart of gold as a gift? Is it because you are afraid that others will not know? Don't you know the principle of making a fortune quietly?

Prince Qing Yixin is greedy for money, but he still has to do some superficial work. Those censors and the Qingliu are not vegetarians. They sent money so ostentatiously, are they afraid that the Qingliu Party will have no ammunition and can't find any handle?

The discussion gradually became louder, and everyone soon reached two consensuses: first, this wild man who came from nowhere was really rich, and second, this guy was a big fool.

The voices of discussion reached Lin Yongchang's ears, but he did not feel embarrassed or angry. Instead, he laughed out loud, "Everyone, I am Lin Yongchang. This is my first time in Beijing. I will have to rely on you guys in the future."

He stood on the carriage and bowed to the four directions, with a smile on his face. There were cheers from all around, and it was unclear whether it was booing. Lin Yongchang seemed to be happier and happier. He picked up two big yellow croakers and touched them together. The golden little cuties made a crisp sound after colliding, but it was drowned out by the discussions of the crowd.

"These, and this gold, are all for Prince Qing!"

Wuyun Qiqige shouted from the side: "That's our gold!"

But no one paid attention to the little girl's shouting. Everyone was attracted by the gold. Everyone in the capital knew that Prince Qing Yixin was greedy for money. In the past, they only talked about it in restaurants and teahouses, but now they finally saw the real thing. To entertain foreigners, they had to give Prince Qing dozens of kilograms of gold. How much gold, silver and jewelry must there be in Prince Qing's mansion? I'm afraid the bed for sleeping and the plates for eating are all made of gold, right?

The doorman walked briskly towards the gate. No matter whether the matter was accomplished today, the ten yellow croakers were already in his hands. Even if the matter failed, there was no reason to ask the doorman to return the money. There were cheers and applause coming from the door. The doorman was surprised, but not worried. This was the Qing Palace. He would not dare to act recklessly here even if he had the guts of a bear or a leopard.

But what's going on at the door? It's so noisy!

He took a few quick steps, stepped over the threshold, and walked out of the door. He saw many people gathered together, and he was unhappy. What did these people think of Prince Qing's Mansion? A vegetable market or a theater?

"What are you doing? What are you doing? Everyone, disperse!"

The doorman pushed through the crowd and saw the golden yellow croaker spread out on the cart, and he couldn't help but feel dazed.

who am I?

Where am I?

what am i doing?

Chapter 29 Good Friends

The doorman fell into a trance. He knew that his master accepted bribes, sold official positions, and wanted all kinds of money, but those things were not allowed to be made public. Even though everyone in the officialdom was greedy and the unspoken rules had become something that everyone knew about, everyone also knew that it was wrong.

Confucianism has fallen behind the times and has become a Confucian religion, producing many hypocrites who say one thing and do another, but it is still useful in some ways, such as letting Chinese people know what is right and what is wrong, although knowing this is not very useful.

But the doorman knew that his master Yixin definitely didn't want people to discuss how he accepted bribes. Prince Qing couldn't do anything about those censors and the Qingliu, so would he vent his anger on him? This was very likely!

When he thought of this, his hands and feet turned cold, and he was furious. Seeing those Mongolians and foreigners with weapons, he lost the courage to do evil. The Eight Banners were good at talking, but not so good at fighting. There were good men among the Bannermen, but they were definitely not the one who served as the gatekeeper to Prince Qing.

"What are you doing? What are you doing?" Menzi pushed away several people who were close to him and asked angrily, "What the hell are you doing?"

Lin Yongchang opened his eyes wide and said innocently, "What did I do? This is my admiration for the old man, Prince Qing. Can't you see it? Before I came to the capital, I heard someone say that Prince Qing is the highest official in the court. As long as you give him money, there is nothing you can't do! So I brought gold here. Look at this gold, it's pure gold!"

The sound of gold colliding was crisp and pleasant, which would give people beautiful reverie, but Menzi became more and more angry. He looked at Li Wenyong who was cowering beside him, stepped forward and grabbed him, and shouted: "Okay, it turned out that you were the one who did it!"

Li Wenyong had been backing away just now, just because he didn't want to be noticed. Lin Yongchang had done something like this, and someone must be in trouble. He didn't dare to think about getting a reward from Prince Qing anymore, and now he wanted to leave this place of trouble as soon as possible. He would not go back to Zhangbei County. The capital was so big, so he would find a place to hide for a few days first.

But before the plan even began, it was interrupted by Menzi. Li Wenyong’s arm was scratched and hurt. He shouted, “Don’t talk nonsense! It’s not

I, I didn’t! ”

Menzi shouted, "Who else could it be but you? You are the one who brought this guy here!"

Lin Yongchang stepped forward and grabbed the doorman's collar. Although he hadn't purchased the [Innate Power] yet, he was quite strong. He grabbed the doorman and said dissatisfiedly, "What do you want to do? Wen Yong is my good friend. How can you treat him like this? Let's talk it over. We should fight with words, not with fists. Listen to me..."

Li Wenyong felt bitter in his mouth. Looking at Lin Yongchang who was full of enthusiasm, he realized that this man did this on purpose. But why? Why did he do this? Was he deliberately being a fool? He had been in Beijing for a long time and had met many people, but he had never seen someone like Lin Yongchang.

You are obviously very capable and talented, so why do you want to become famous in this way?

Becoming famous...Li Wenyong figured out some things, but there are still many things he doesn't understand.

"What are you doing here?"

"Get out of my way!"

"Make way for the Fourth Princess!"

A dozen Jin soldiers wearing uniforms with the Chinese character "勇" on them pushed the crowd away, but they didn't dare to go too far. Don't think that they are just spectators now, and they don't seem to be doing well. Maybe their ancestors were some big shots, or they were servants of some family. You have to look at the owner before beating a dog. If you just beat the dog of a rich and powerful family, you will get into a lot of trouble.

"The fourth princess is here!"

"Ah, Si Gege...Gold still looks better!"

"Shut your stinky mouth. If you keep talking nonsense, the Haicha family won't be able to protect you!"

Lin Yongchang held the doorman with one hand and Li Wenyong with the other, tilting his head to watch the fourth princess get off the carriage. When he was in Zhangbei and Zhangjiakou, even if the people he met were not ugly, their faces were all black, and their clothes were full of grease and the smell of not taking a bath for a long time. But the girl who got off the carriage was not like that. Her face was clean, her body was fresh, and she had a snow-white mink around her neck. Standing on the snow, she was delicate and beautiful, not like someone from this era.

"You...put Su, Tai and the others down first."

The girl's voice was clear and pleasant, but it was not the same clear sound as the sound of gold colliding. Lin Yongchang smiled, let go of the person in his hand, and said, "So this friend's name is Su Hetai."

Su Hetai, the doorman of Prince Qing's mansion, took a few steps back, touched the back of his neck and said angrily: "Who is your friend?"

The fourth princess turned her eyes and saw the large cart loaded with gold. She couldn't help but frowned slightly and said, "What's going on?"

"These are for Prince Qing," Lin Yongchang touched his head and said with a smile, "But if the prince is not at home, then it's the same for giving them to Prince Beile."

The fourth princess looked at Su Hetai and asked, "Is that so?"