April 25, the forty-seventh year of Wanli.
Zuo'anmen, the capital city, is in a winding alleyway.
Yuan Chonghuan (also known as Yuan Yuan), a new scholar in the Ming Dynasty, walked back and forth in the alley with a black and thin book boy.
An hour ago, the master and the servant came out of the Guangdong Guild Hall and walked south to Guangqumen.
The two of them walked around the bustling T-shaped street for a while, bought some northern food such as rice cakes and mutton, and ate while walking, they turned into an alley without realizing it.
The master and the servant finished the snacks in their hands and prepared to return to the clubhouse. After walking around for a few times, they found that the surrounding alleys were still the same as before.
Yuan Chonghuan, who passed the imperial examination, was relatively smart. He quickly realized that he might have lost his way.
Most of the streets and alleys in the capital during the Ming Dynasty were in the form of T-shaped streets. The north and south city gates are not opposite each other, and the roads are not direct. This urban layout is due to the needs of military defense. The dead end that appears in front of them is also the principle of military defense. Since then, the city has been dotted with twists and turns of alleys.
Yuan Chonghuan took the book boy Senti for a long time in this winding alley.
In the end, Yuan Chonghuan entered a dead end and was at a loss.
Just like many years later, the governors Ji and Liao encountered changes in Jisi and wanted to continue moving forward, but there was no way under their feet.
"Master Ke Lao, you just went to have a meal yesterday. The emperor gave you food. Why don't you stay in the capital for a few more days?"
Although it was mid-spring, Yuan Chonghuan's head was covered with sweat. He raised his head and glared at Senti, and cursed in poor Mandarin:
"Senti, street boy! How many times have I told you to learn more elegant pronunciation and Mandarin. We have been in the capital for more than a month. How are you learning Mandarin? From now on, I will follow Mr. Ke Lao immediately. ), you’re welcome (can’t speak), how do you go? (How do you do that)?”
After scolding him, he still didn't understand his hatred. He slapped Senti and left two marks on his face, telling the street boy to remember that Guangxi people should speak less local accent and more Mandarin when they are in the North.
The thirty-six-year-old Guangxi Jinshi suddenly felt a little tired at this moment.
He was born as an eighteen-year-old boy and became a Jinshi at the age of forty.
Yuan Chonghuan remembered that he had become a disciple when he was fourteen years old. At the age of twenty-three, he took part in the Chief Secretary's Provincial Examination and successfully became a candidate.
If time stopped here, his path to the imperial examination would not be as good as that of prodigies like Zhang Juzheng and Yan Song. It can also be said that he was a teenager's pride! The future is limitless!
Maybe Mr. Yuan is having bad luck.
After winning the national examination at the age of twenty-three, he began to fail repeatedly.
Even in Guangxi, where the literary style was in decline, even after taking the exam four times, he still stopped at being a candidate.
It was not until the 47th year of the calendar year, that is, this year, that Yuan Chonghuan, who took the college entrance examination for the fifth time, finally passed the exam and ranked 40th in the top three.
The results are not too bad. In this era when the admission rate for Jinshi is less than one in 50,000, being able to enter the top three is already among the best.
In addition, the 41st among the top three Jinshi in this class is the one ranked behind Yuan Chonghuan. His surname is Sun and his given name is Chuanting (also known as Baigu).
Four months ago, Yuan Chonghuan rushed from Guangxi to the capital to take the college entrance examination. The journey was thousands of miles long and difficult, and it is difficult to describe it in words, which cannot be explained to outsiders.
Last winter, Yuan Chonghuan entered Beijing via Pingjiang, Guilin, Shaoguan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Xuzhou, Shandong, and Zhuozhou, Hebei.
The journey was more than 3,000 miles and took more than 70 days.
Because the examination was on the 9th day of the third lunar month, he and Senti spent New Year's Eve on a boat on the Linqing Canal in Shandong.
If it hadn't been for the kind-hearted and honest-faced Northern Cao Bing Commander who sold a tattered quilt to two Cantonese guests for fifteen taels of silver, Yuan Chonghuan and his brother Senti might have froze to death in Linqing on the snowy night of New Year's Eve. Cao ship bilge······
As for the several times that the master and servant were almost thrown into chaos and dumplings by the green forest people in the North (they were killed and thrown into the river after robbery, and they were not killed and thrown into the river after robbery), these troublesome things should not be mentioned.
During this period of time in the capital, Yuan Chonghuan suffered a lot. If it weren't for the tedious and boring scientific examination rituals in the Imperial College, he would have left the capital long ago and gone back to the South.
"Old... Sir, in front of us is Chongwenmen. It turns out that we have created a big circle here. Sir, there is a group of people over there surrounding the soldiers of the Army and Horse Division, making noisy noises. The Yankees are fighting fiercely. Why don't we take a detour? Go back to the clubhouse?”
"Lead the way!"
The master and servant walked out of the alley. The street was bustling with people, and the air was filled with the smell of horse manure and dead rats.
Yuan Chonghuan covered his mouth and nose and continued walking forward.
At the base of the Chongwenmen city wall, a group of common people were neatly lined up. They were dressed in bulging bags and covered with cotton clothes and leather jackets. They looked like refugees near Gyeonggi Province.
Yuan Chonghuan looked at these people coldly. They huddled in a ball and looked longingly at the dusty Chongwen Gate.
The soldiers and horsemen came up to persuade the refugees to stay away from the city gate.
These soldiers from the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division were all in ragged clothes, and their bodies were thinner than Senti's. Many of them had crystal clear snot hanging from the tips of their noses.
Yuan Chonghuan cursed a few words with a look of compassion on his face:
"How can I, the most virtuous place in the Ming Dynasty, be so dirty? It is really an eyesore and an eyesore!"
Standing next to him was a blind fortune teller. He saw Yuan Chonghuan wearing a blue robe with a green edge and a round collar and big sleeves.
Listening to Yuan Chonghuan's Ming Dynasty Mandarin, he knew that this gentleman might be a scholar from another province who came to Beijing to take the imperial examination. He said with an attentive face:
"I came here from the south to try it out. You can tell by your temperament that you are rich and noble. Look at this full heaven and this tall figure..."
Yuan Chonghuan interrupted the blind man, reached out and took out a copper coin from his sleeve.
When the copper coin was placed in front of the fortune teller, the blind man immediately opened his eyes, took the money, and thanked him profusely.
"Why are the refugees standing here?"
After the fortune teller got the money, he explained to Mr. Yuan:
"Master, these are all eunuchs waiting to enter the palace. There are more outside the city. Yesterday, the people from the Military and Horse Division said there were almost 6,000 people." (1)
Yuan Chonghuan's face was full of astonishment and he said in surprise:
"Waiting to enter the palace? Are you saying they are eunuchs?"
"Yes, sir, you come from the south, so of course you don't know. These are people who have castrated themselves and want to find a job in the palace. They happen every year. It's nothing new."
Senti trembled when he heard this. This scholar has just turned fifteen this year, which is the best time for him to enter the palace with a sword.
"Master, I'm afraid,"
"roll!"
Seeing that he met a kind man today, the fortune teller was thinking about how to get some more money from Yuan Chonghuan.
There was a look of sorrow on his face, he looked up to the northeast and toward Liaodong, and sobbed in a low voice:
"The three sons in the little old man's family all went to Liaodong to fight, and they didn't know whether to live or die. They didn't reply to a letter for several years. Our family has ten acres of thin farmland. Last year, we started to pay Liaoning wages. The second county master paid 20% per acre, and the county grandmaster paid 60%. The rent is 80%, which adds up to 80%. I can’t make it through life, so I come here to tell people’s fortunes!”
Yuan Chonghuan was shocked. He had been in Lingnan for a long time and didn't know that Liao's salary oppressed the people in the north so hard.
Corrupt officials have made it difficult for ordinary people to live in peace and order, and they have forced many refugees out of the country.
The imperial court stipulated that the Liao government would only add two percent of silver per mu to the original land tax. Why did the imperial decree change to 20 percent per mu after the imperial decree came out of the capital?
It should be noted that under these two taxation standards, the burden on farmers differs by more than ten times.
"Street boy! He is only greedy for money. He cannot win a war. He is the first to make money!"
Yuan Chonghuan scolded fiercely that his dissatisfaction with these northern bureaucrats was not over for a day or two.
The blind fortune teller didn't hear Master Yuan's complaint clearly and complained to him:
"If the little old man hadn't been too old and didn't want us in the palace, he would have let Liu Yidao of the Jingshifang cut him off early. He could go to the palace to enjoy the hot food and drink spicy food. Instead of hiding under the city gate every day and drinking the northwest wind, he would freeze to death sooner or later and starve to death. The body was eaten by wild dogs,”
Seeing how pitiful the old man said, Yuan Chonghuan sighed. Although he was not short of money for the time being, he prided himself on caring for all the people in the world. Saving one or two poor people was not his ideal, so he said to the old man:
"The old man has suffered a lot. The imperial court is still at war with the Tatars. When Liaodong is equalized, Liaodong will not be charged, and life will be easier!"
The old man was reluctant and continued to ask:
"Master, I can tell from one glance that you are a scholar. Tell me, how many years will it take for you to be able to pay a salary? So you don't have to pay those ridiculous wages?"
Yuan Chonghuan didn't listen to the old man at all. He was still thinking:
Everyone in this group of Liao Zhen soldiers should die. From Li Rubai to Liu Wei, all they know is defeat! It's a pity that he doesn't have Shang Fang's sword in his hand, otherwise he would have killed these warriors with his own hands!
"Sir, how many years will it take for Liao to be defeated?"
"Half a year, half a year can be expected, not five years,"
Yuan Chonghuan was a little distracted, so he gave the old man a few perfunctory words and asked Senti to give him more money.
The book boy reluctantly gave the blind man a penny and waved the old man away.
The blind man thanked them quickly, said goodbye to the two nobles, and ran away.
At this time, fighting broke out on the other side of the city wall.
The thin Bingma Si was no match for the refugees. Although they carried swords and guns, these weapons were just decorations and could not even kill a chicken.
"Open the door! I was castrated last winter and cleanly cut. I am living here waiting to go to the palace to work, serve our emperor, and work for the Ming Dynasty! You bitch, you block me every day and don't let me in. I will fight with you!"
A big man with a stout body and a sinewy face kicked away the soldiers in front of him and said to the eunuchs behind him:
"My grandson won't let us in, beat them to death! Beat them!"
The eunuchs picked up sticks and stones and threw them at the soldiers of the Bingma Division.
The soldiers of the Bingma Division were beaten with bruises on their noses and faces, and they dispersed with loud shouts and fled around.
Yuan Chonghuan watched with great interest from behind. He had been ruthless in order to gain fame in the past few years. He focused all his energy on the Four Books and Five Classics, looking for chapters and excerpts. Naturally, he did not know much about the allusions of the country and the customs of the capital. .
Just take this opportunity to gain some insights.
In the Ming Dynasty, starting from the Xuande period, more and more people entered the palace by eunuchs, and it became a disaster.
Regarding the reasons for self-castration, except for the bad habits of a few perverts, most people just want to improve their extremely miserable living conditions. (2)
Of course, there are also some poor children who are brutally castrated by their parents, sold to human traffickers, and forced into the palace.
For the people of the Ming Dynasty who lived under mutiny, natural disasters, and harsh government, they would not starve to death after entering the palace, eat Guanyin soil, or change their sons to eat.
You can even eat and drink well, and have some feelings that transcend gender with the palace ladies.
Of course, if you are not careful, you may become a big shot like Liu Jin, Wang Zhen, and Wei Zhongxian, and then honor your ancestors.
According to the famous Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, when a person's food cannot guarantee his survival and is threatened, other human needs of this person can be ignored or even completely suppressed, including that thing, of course.
Therefore, by the Chenghua period, the number of loyal people from all over the country who requested to enter the palace to serve the emperor and the harem had exceeded 2,000, and this number was increasing year by year.
Although successive emperors of the Ming Dynasty have severely cracked down on such private palaces, as the economy deteriorated year by year in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, political corruption intensified, and natural disasters occurred frequently..., more and more men in the Gyeonggi area became more and more independent. Come more and more.
Wei Zhongxian, the eldest brother of Liu Zhaosun, was one of these tens of thousands of people from the palace. It was only because Eunuch Wei later became nine thousand years old that people remembered him.
According to historical records (3), in the forty-eighth year of Wanli, that is, next year, an army of more than 20,000 quasi-eunuchs will flood into the capital and beg the court for jobs. They said they would not choose any job, and their request was rejected. After that, they quickly changed from a loyal and patriotic quasi-eunuch to a noisy and bellicose mob. Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty still has its power. Under the joint attack of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War, this group of mobs were driven out of the capital, and many returned to their hometowns because Unable to see the Jiangdong elders (after all, there are only a few people like Wei Eunuch who returned home in fine clothes), many people chose to commit suicide.
The group of eunuchs Yuan Chonghuan saw was a small part of the more than 20,000 people who poured into the imperial palace in the 48th year of Wanli. More quasi-father-in-laws were still on their way to the capital.
No one would believe such absurd historical scenes unless they experienced it with their own eyes.
"I don't believe it either," Yuan Chonghuan shook his head and said, "Our Ming Dynasty has been declining, and our morals have become so corrupt! It's so sad!"
Looking at the group of eunuchs in front of him, Yuan Chonghuan was speechless for a long time. He was a little upset and decided to go back to the guild hall first.
At this time, a group of royal guards walked out of Chongwen Gate, all wearing flying fish uniforms and embroidered spring knives, quite impressive.
There were two lieutenants in the Jinyi Guards. The appearance of the lieutenants immediately triggered fanatical shouting from the surroundings.
Looking at the two father-in-laws wearing bright clothes and angry horses, all the men who committed suicide in order to survive felt at this moment the meaning of life. This is the decent way they want to live.
So, they raised their wooden sticks and beat harder the soldiers of the Bingma Division who had not had time to escape.
"Kill them! Don't open the door for me!"
Reinforcements from the Wucheng Army and Horse Division finally arrived. There were hundreds of reinforcements and their combat effectiveness was slightly stronger. As soon as the two sides met, they immediately fought together.
Wei Zhongxian looked at the crowd fighting at the base of the city wall, at the flying sticks and rocks and the splattered blood, as if he was seeing very ordinary things.
Eunuch Wei has been in the capital for more than twenty years and is used to seeing this scene before him.
Every winter and spring, when the capital is hit by famine, some people come to the capital with the same dreams as their own.
one World, One Dream
With the help of yourself or your companions, click the knife...
"These traitors are very cunning. They only think that they will do nothing after castration, but they don't know about benevolence, justice, propriety, wisdom and trust. Only by doing these things can they serve the emperor well and preserve their wealth!"
Wei Zhongxian turned around and stood next to Xiaoqi, a guard in uniform, and said seriously:
"Shen Lian, do you remember what we told you last time? Have you thought about it?"
After hearing this, Xiao Qi quickly reined in his horse, clasped his fists in his hands, and said to Wei Zhongxian:
"Eunuch Wei, thank you for your kindness. Shen will never enter the palace, never in this life,"
Shen Lian returned to the capital from Liaodong, and with the help of Kang Yingqian's letters and three hundred taels of silver, he was promoted to the small flag of the Zhenfu Division.
He searched for Beizhai everywhere in the capital for almost a month, but found that the woman Liu Shenjiang was talking about did not exist.
Thinking that this was Master Liu's special instruction, he did not give up, and his hard work paid off, and he finally found Hokusai in Tanzhe Temple.
This Hokusai is an old monk with a gray beard...
Shen Lian guessed that Mr. Liu had remembered it wrong, so he put the matter aside for the time being and continued to be his little flag.
After some time, a father-in-law from the Supervisor of Ceremonies found him and offered him five hundred taels of silver.
The father-in-law also said that he was Mr. Liu's eldest brother. Shen Lian pulled out the Xiuchun knife, put it on the father-in-law's neck and asked him, why is your surname not Liu.
But the father-in-law didn't change his expression. He pressed his finger on the edge of the knife and blood dripped on the ground. He smiled and said that he and General Liu Shen were sworn brothers. They swore an oath and drank Tatar blood together.
Shen Lian felt that this man was generous and loyal, no wonder Mr. Liu wanted to sworn sworn friends with him, so he often went out drinking and fighting with him.
Out of good intentions, Eunuch Wei reminded Shen Lian more than once that the emperor's time was short and asked him to follow him into the palace with a click of the knife as soon as possible. In the future, he would re-establish the West Factory. Let's see who dares to bully us.
Shen Lian has never made up his mind, and I never forget to let the Shen family stay behind.
Everyone walked through Chongwen Gate and turned left towards Zhengyang Gate. Wei Zhongxian smiled and suddenly grabbed Shen Lian's flying fish suit:
"Brother Shen, I can't help you today. Let's go and follow our family into the palace!"
Just as Shen Lian was about to break free, another eunuch stepped forward and held his shoulders. Although Shen Lian had some skills, he was no match for the two eunuchs and struggled and was dragged into the palace gate.
"Did the Emperor pass away?"
Sixteen-year-old Shen Lian felt that the world was collapsing at this moment.
Yuan Chonghuan saw in front of Chongwen Gate that a handsome guard in royal robes was being molested in public by two father-in-laws, and was finally dragged into the palace.
"Shameless!!"
He sighed again that the world was declining, people's hearts were not as old as before, and evildoers were rampant. This capital was indeed not a place to live for a long time.
Just as he was about to ask the bookboy to go back together, a burly man walked in front of him.
Yuan Chonghuan remembered that this person was Sun Chuanting, a Jinshi who was ranked behind him.
A few days ago, when he was passing the news (4) in the Golden Hall of Fengtian Palace, the two exchanged a few words, and Yuan Chonghuan still had some impression of this person.
"Brother Element, what are you still doing here?"
"Oh, it turns out to be Brother Bai Gu. I haven't seen you for a few days. I didn't know you were still in the capital."
Yuan Chonghuan raised his head and looked at Sun Chuanting, who was much younger than him, and frowned slightly. This man was only in his early twenties, but he was only ranked one behind him, which made him, a thirty-six-year-old scholar among the top three and forty, even more eye-catching. .
What made Yuan Chonghuan even more unhappy was that Sun Chuanting was still wearing the Jinshi scarf that he wore when he passed away.
"Don't Jinshi robes have to be taken back after the dish ceremony?"
Yuan Chonghuan had a sullen look on his face. It seemed that there was still a distinction between the north and the south. His Jinshi turban had been taken away by the Imperial College long ago, and this Yankee was still wearing it while walking around the city and showing off in front of others!
Is it just because he, Yuan Chonghuan, is a Juren from Guangxi? …
"Brother Yuan Yuan, tomorrow the Donglu will be killed in the inner city, and Kaiyuan Shen will offer prisoners at the palace. All the six yamen and Xinke Jinshi will watch the execution. The Holy Emperor may also come to visit. Brother Yuan Yuan, will you come with us? Let all your lords take a look. I’m waiting for the new scholar’s style!”
After Sun Chuanting finished speaking, he raised his head and looked at Yuan Chonghuan.
Yuan Chonghuan looked at Sun Chuanting's bright clothes and angry horses, and thought, tomorrow he will sacrifice the prisoners, but you, a Yankee, will be strutting through the market in Jinshi turban today!
"Brother Yuan Yuan, I heard that the Ping Liao policy you wrote has been read by the Ministry of War. They all said that it was an old man who wanted to seek the country. I'm afraid the paper in Luoyang will be too expensive!"
Yuan Chonghuan's face was gloomy. In last month's examination, he mistakenly wrote half a year as five years on the test paper. With a slight shake of his hand, his ranking dropped to the top three and forty. He still regrets it today.
Sun Chuanting was still talking about the trial strategy. Yuan Chonghuan felt that he was humiliating himself. He couldn't help it anymore and said a classic Cantonese:
"What a shame, you street kid! So cute!"
"(Don't translate, bastard, what are you so proud of?)"
After saying that, he led the book boy Senti and headed towards the guild hall.
Sun Chuanting stayed for a while. He was only twenty-five this year. He was born in Shanxi and grew up in the Three Jin Dynasties. He was obsessed with articles and did not travel well. He was not as well-informed as Qiao Yiqi.
This visit to the capital for the imperial examination was Sun Baigu's first trip abroad and his first encounter with Lingnan scholars. Sun Chuanting felt that although Yuan Chonghuan had a hot temper and was different from his own, he was still a capable person.
This person was familiar with the management of personnel and finance, the art of war, and warfare. It is said that Yuan Chonghuan wrote the strategy of Ping Liao in this test strategy (the text of the Imperial Examination). He used the troops in an upright and upright manner, and was favored by the chief of the Ministry of War.
The servant next to him asked in Shanxi dialect:
"Brother Gu, what is this barbarian talking about? Is he scolding you?"
Sun Chuanting smiled slightly and said lightly:
"Maybe I'm greeting the Holy One. The Cantonese dialect is different from the Yayin of Sanjin. Don't care about him. Lao Bai, let's go! Go back to Shaanxi Mountain and eat noodles. Let's take a good look at the beheading array tomorrow. The clever Liu Zhaosun!"
~~~~~~~~~~
Note: (1) "Records of Shenzong" Volume 11
(2) "Records of Xiaozong" Volume 75, May of the sixth year of Hongzhi
(3) "Records of Shenzong" Volume 13
(4) Two days after the palace examination, the emperor summoned the new Jinshi candidates. The candidates who have passed the Jinshi ceremony wear official uniforms and crowns with three branches and nine leaves on their heads. They stand respectfully in front of Tiananmen Gate and wait to be called. Then they enter the Hall of Supreme Harmony with the princes and ministers and stand in rows on the left and right to listen to the names and rankings of those who have passed the Jinshi ceremony. This is the "Jindian Chuanlu". "胪" means to display, and "chuanlu" means to call by name one by one and enter the palace to meet the emperor.
