In April of 1631, even during the Little Ice Age, spring finally arrived outside the capital city.
The willows on the banks of the Tudi River are newly green, the peach and apricot trees are blooming one after another, and the beautiful flowers are swaying in the slightly cold spring breeze. [Read the latest chapter] The earth has turned green again, and the farmers who survived the war and famine are still busy in the fields despite their green faces and knotted clothes.
The Qing army's first invasion of the fortress, or the "Ji Si Change", ended last year. In October of the third year of Chongzhen, all the troops of the Hou Jin Dynasty who entered the pass returned to Shenyang. Zunhua and other four cities that had left troops to guard the pass were also recovered by the Ming army one after another. The burned-down houses have not yet been rebuilt, and the bones of those who died in the war can still be seen on the roadside from time to time. However, the prefectures and counties in Northern Zhili, which were in turmoil due to the entry of the late Jin Dynasty and were in turmoil, finally breathed a sigh of relief. It seems that the Ming Dynasty will usher in another spring just like this land.
However, many bureaucrats in the capital, no matter what their political stance, as long as they have a little bit of foresight, know that Ming Dynasty is already ill, and the illness is not serious. However, at this time, no one could predict that Ming Dynasty would not have much time left.
What the officials and scholars in the capital talked about the most was Hou Jin, who had gradually become a serious problem for the imperial court. As for the rogue bandits in Shaanxi, She'an in Guizhou, and the bandits in Qiongzhou, some people mentioned it, but no one cared about it. Although He Rubin's entire army was wiped out in Qiongzhou and he suffered heavy losses, it did not cause much sensation. Compared with the Ming court's loss of governors and general officials during the She'an Rebellion, after all, the highest-ranking official killed in the Qiongzhou battle was only a general. So far, no prefectures or counties have been lost.
The spring wind in Beijing is strong. The spring breeze from the Mongolian Plateau is mixed with the wind, blowing people until their skin is chapped, and the streets are filled with yellow sand. The moon passed. It rained in spring and the streets were muddy. In the mud, a two-person sedan chair was stumbling along. The bodies of the two sedan bearers were speckled with yellow mud.
Behind the sedan are burdens carried by about a dozen porters, all tightly bundled with reed mats.
A gap was quietly opened in the sedan curtain, and someone glanced at the street outside through the gap." If someone could get close enough, they could hear an almost imperceptible sneer of contempt from this person.
The person in the sedan chair was Leng Ningyun who was sent to the capital to carry out work.
Leng Ningyun was engaged in finance and trust work in the old time and space, and was familiar with financial history, four fo and derivatives. Have a bachelor's degree in management. Proficient in English, able to communicate simply in Japanese, and a few words in French. The financial department of the Cross Group has a large number of people, but the jobs that can be done in the financial department are too simple. Many financial industry professionals can only work as Accounting.
Leng Ningyun was extremely bored, so he thought of stationing abroad. After signing up for training at the Foreign Intelligence Service, his financial background attracted the attention of Jiang Shan and others. Eventually, he was sent to Beijing to serve as the webmaster of the Beijing Station and the president of the Beijing Branch of Delong Bank.
The Capital Station was different from other foreign stations in that it did not require commercial or industrial activities to be carried out locally. The main content of its activities was to collect intelligence and absorb the officials of the Capital Bureaucracy. Therefore, Beijing Station is mainly focused on financial activities. It would be more appropriate to let a professional in finance take charge.
It is easy to enter Beijing, but it is not easy to carry out activities in Beijing.
In particular, Leng Ningyun's main task is to absorb deposits. How can Delong, who has no foundation in Beijing, gain the trust of corrupt officials and deposit money in Delong Bank with confidence and boldness? This is a very test for Leng Ningyun.
What Leng Ningyun wanted to see now was Eunuch Yang, a key figure since he arrived in Beijing.
Eunuch Yang was a great supporter in the capital. When Wei Zhongxian was in power, he once planned to build a shrine in Guangzhou to celebrate the ninth thousand years of his life. However, this did not happen and Eunuch Yang escaped. After the fall of Wei Zhongxian, Eunuch Yang was a blessing in disguise and was not implicated. He quickly curried favor with Wang Dehua and spent tens of thousands of silver and many high-profile "Australian goods" to be able to sell the Bell and Drum Division. It's like being reincarnated.
Eunuch Yang, who has returned to power, is much more cautious than before. After all, he is not an old member of Xinwang Fandi. When he was in power at the age of 9, he did not have a "firm attitude and clear stance." At best, he is just a fence-sitter. So he rarely appears now. The palace interferes with too many things, and never says a word except for his own duties.
Even though it was spring, it was still very cold. Leng Ningyun shrank her neck, wondering what to say after seeing this great eunuch.
Except when watching movies and TV shows in the old time and space, Leng Ningyun had never seen the image of a eunuch. Of course, the eunuchs in movies and TV shows were also fake. It is difficult to grasp what a real eunuch is like and what kind of heart he has. Mo's one thing. However, it goes without saying that all the eunuchs who can become famous in the palace are human beings, so they have to work hard to deal with it. After all, the attitude of this eunuch is very important to the Beijing Railway Station. The future development is closely related.
He had already found out the location of Eunuch Yang's residence in advance, and knew that the master would come back from the palace to rest tonight. When he arrived at the door, the servant sent the greeting card and the eight lines of high praise inside. Not long after, the young eunuch who answered the door spread the word and asked him to come in and meet him.
If you want to go to see a eunuch, you still have to flatter him. Leng Ningyun was of course reluctant. In his mind, eunuchs are a group of sinister, cunning and greedy people, and he has a kind of contempt and disgust in his heart.
However, Leng Ningyun knew very well that in this competition on the intelligence and commercial fronts in Beijing, the help of this great eunuch was indispensable.
When he saw the little eunuch who answered the door coming out with a greeting card, Leng Ningyun signaled, and his servant immediately took out a tael of silver from his arms and stuffed it over, while taking back the card.
Only then did he regain his composure and walk inside.
According to the imperial court system, eunuchs, as the emperor's immediate relatives, generally had to live in the palace, except for those who were sent to other places to perform missions. But a wealthy and powerful eunuch like Eunuch Yang has a mansion outside. It is said that Wei Zhongxian's fourth house in Beijing was extremely luxurious and magnificent, comparable to the palace. Of course, Eunuch Yang's house is far from comparable to Wei Zhongxian's.
However, just by looking around roughly by the light of the lamps under the eaves and in the wing rooms, Leng Ningyun already felt that the house was not only tall, but also must be quite deep, and the architecture and layout were also very sophisticated.
It can be seen that a lot of money was spent on building it.
As the meeting approached, he instinctively became nervous. He became more focused on his mission and developed a new sense of unease and anticipation.
The young eunuch led him into a hall. After waiting in the hall for a while, with the sound of steady and calm footsteps, Eunuch Yang walked out from behind the screen. Leng Ningyun followed the etiquette and stood up to greet the marquis, acting as if he was respectful and respectful.
From the corner of his eye, he saw that the eunuch was a strong man in his fifties. His neatly combed temples had turned white. As usual, his bald chin had no beard. He had a pampered and wide face. Although the red light, big and thick mouth was smiling as usual, doubt and inquiry were clearly reflected in a pair of squinting eyes.
Both sides saluted each other. As a measure to protect the personal safety of the intelligence agents and to facilitate their activities, Li Yan gave every intelligence agent who went to the Ming-controlled areas a Guangdong household registration, and tried to give them a certain degree of fame, some of which were legitimate. Some of the Linsheng in the Eight Classics are epiphyses or hyperplasia, and some are the so-called Imperial College students. Anyway, they all got it from the official movement of Guangdong and Guangxi.
Since he felt that the purpose of his visit could not be explained clearly in a few words, and since they were strangers to each other, in order to reduce the trouble of relaying it, Leng Ningyun did not say much and took out a secret letter that he had prepared in advance from his arms. Along with the gift list, he handed it over with both hands: "This is what the high official ordered the students to forward to you, please Yang Gong to have a look at it."
The father-in-law was not surprised. He had learned about Leng Ningyun's visit from Gao Zhou's letter a few days ago. He glanced at the guest, then took the letter and said, "Sir, please sit down!"
While giving in, he sat down on the chair and began to open the letter.
The content of this secret letter is very simple. Gao Ju told Leng Ningyun in the letter that he was from Dongzhu Guo and that he came to the capital to open a bank and plan business.
Gao Ju never told Yang Gonggong Ming about Guo Yi's background. This was not because Gao Zhou was deliberately trying to deceive him, but because Eunuch Yang didn't want to know it so clearly. Although he somewhat understood that Guo Yi had an unusual relationship with the thieves, or Australians. Maybe he is a thief.
But he had no intention of revealing this and the thieves' business brought him huge benefits every year. He would rather pretend to be deaf and dumb.
If he knew about it, if something happened to the thieves in the future, and the court wanted to investigate the "shouldn't" things, he could shirk the blame completely.
Needless to say, the Leng Ningyun in front of him was also a figure under the thief. Eunuch Yang thought, and was surprised at how young the visitor was. For a scholar, he was not young, but for a businessman who had to stand alone, the visitor was too young.
He then opened the gift list. The gifts were very expensive: they were all Australian treasures that were in short supply on the market.
One of the half-length glass mirrors is very valuable. Obviously the other party is quite knowledgeable.
Out of caution, Gao Zhou's letter was written very briefly, only briefly mentioning the incident. As for the specific statements and plans, Leng Ningyun himself was responsible for explaining. Therefore, from the very beginning, Leng Ningyun paid attention to his master's facial reaction, hoping to reveal the other person's thoughts as much as possible before the formal conversation. a.
