In Wang Zhongxiao's manor in Haidian, Beijing, several cups of Pu'er tea are exuding a fresh and calm aroma.
There was a stove burning in the hall, and it was as warm as spring. Wang Zhongxiao, who had returned from Tianjin Station, was wearing casual clothes and no hat, and was sitting leisurely on the seat. His newlywed wife Wu Xiaotuo and uncle Wu Shijue were also sitting in the hall. Several of them were reading and storytelling while waiting for dinner!
Yang Xiaohuan stood outside the hall with an eyebrow-level stick, braving the cold wind and guarding the people inside.
It was not convenient for Wu Shijue to show up these days, so he was arranged by Wang Zhongxiao to live in the Haidian Manor that originally belonged to Wang Fuchen but was now transferred to him.
His mission to go north to get married this time has been completed, so he can go back home. But the situation in Beijing has been changing recently, so he temporarily stayed with Wang Zhongxiao to wait and see how the situation changed.
In the end, we really had a great harvest - we gained the revolutionary truth!
The truth is now held in the hands of Wu Shijue and Wu Xiaotuo, and it is the book "The World is Public"!
Wu Xiaotuo actually didn't quite understand the value of "Yuanjun", "Yuanchen", "Yuanfa" and "Juntian", but she was quite interested in the song "Song of Datong" at the end, so she was looking carefully there. .
Xiao Tu knows music, so Wang Zhongxiao told her before that he would personally sing the song "Song of Datong" to him later, and asked her to help mark the song "Song of Datong" with Gongchi music. So she had to memorize the lyrics first.
Wu Shijue was determined to rebel against the Qing Dynasty. Of course, he was very sensitive to the principles of rebellion. After reading it for a while, he was completely attracted by the principles in "The Theory of the World is Public". I read it word for word twice, but still felt that it was still unfinished. After putting down the book, I asked Wang Zhongxiao: "Shikai, is this book really written by Prince Zhu San?"
"Maybe it's true, maybe someone wrote it in the name of Prince Zhu Third!" Wang Zhongxiao put down the tea bowl in his hand and said to Wu Shijue with a solemn expression, "Shijue, haven't you seen this book in Yunnan? "
"I've never seen it before." Wu Shijue shook his head, "How could there be a counter-letter from the Third Prince Zhu in Yunnan?"
"Really?" Wang Zhongxiao looked at Wu Shijue in surprise, "Shijue, we are our own people, how long are you going to keep this secret from me?"
"Shikai, what do you mean?" Wu Shijue looked at Wang Zhongxiao, looking at the angry face, and he was a little doubtful, "Could it be that there is some news from Yunnan?"
"Two pieces of news." Wang Zhongxiao stretched out two fingers, "One bad news, one good news."
"Then let's get the good news first!" Wu Shijue said with a frown.
"The good news is that Ao Bai has really arrived in Yunnan," Wang Zhongxiao said, "and he has definitely taken refuge with Grandpa You, King Ping Xi!"
"Is this good news?" Wu Shijue frowned even more.
There should be advantages and disadvantages for Ao Bai to join his grandfather Wu Sangui. The advantage is that he has an extra "Batulu" general. The disadvantage is that the room for maneuver between Pingxi Fan and the imperial court is getting smaller and smaller.
"Of course this is good news!" Wang Zhongxiao said, "With the help of Ao Bai, the prince can achieve twice the result with half the effort in fighting the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty! If the prince really doesn't want to rebel, he only needs to tie Ao Bai to Beijing, which can greatly alleviate the emperor's suspicion. "
"Well, this is indeed good news." Wu Shijue asked again, "Then what is the bad news?"
"The bad news is that your aunt is getting married." Wang Zhongxiao said.
"What? My aunt, Aunt Ake? How can you say that her marriage is bad news?" Wu Shijue looked at Wang Zhongxiao warily.
Aunt Ake is a beauty, she is Chen Yuanyuan’s daughter for Wu Sangui! Now that she is getting married, Wang Zhongxiao has such a big reaction. Could it be that this deceived disciple who deceived Xiao Tu still wants to deceive A Ke?
Wang Zhongxiao said lightly: "Your Aunt Ake is probably going to marry Prince Zhu San!"
"What?"
"Shikai, what did you say?"
Wu Shijue and Wu Xiaotuo screamed at the same time.
It's already bizarre enough that Ao Bai took refuge with Wu Sangui, but now there's news that Prince Zhu III is marrying Wu Sangui's daughter. This can no longer be described as bizarre, it's simply outrageous!
"Shikai, where did your news come from?" Wu Shijue asked.
Wang Zhongxiao replied: "I heard it from the Nan Study Room! Gan Wenkun, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, and Li Tianyu, the governor of Yunnan, rushed 600 miles to send the coupons to the emperor. They both secretly reported the news that the king of Pingxi had recruited Prince Zhu San as his son-in-law. They were quite right. rhythmic."
"What?" Wu Shijue was shocked, "Is this happening?"
Wang Zhongxiao nodded and said: "It's absolutely true! They said that the third prince of Zhu used the pseudonym Wang Yongkang and pretended that his father Wang was an old friend of Ping Xiwang, so they had a finger-to-tip marriage. Now Yongkang's family is ruined and he has no other way out. He begs into Yunnan. , and begged King Pingxi to marry him with a girl!
King Pingxi pretended that the third prince Zhu, whose pseudonym was Wang Yongkang, was indeed the son of his family friend. He did not mind his hardship and still married him as a daughter. He also gave him a large dowry and sent a letter to Ma Futai of Jiangsu to marry him. Purchasing a residence in Suzhou. He also reported to the imperial court to invite alternate officers for Wang Yongkang. Two days ago, King Pingxi's official request for Wang Yongkang and Ma Futai's secret report had already arrived in Beijing! "
"Isn't this a misunderstanding?" Wu Shijue still couldn't believe it.
"It's really not a misunderstanding. The emperor went to ask the empress dowager. The empress dowager told the emperor that the prince had a history of having an affair and letting the prince of Ming Dynasty go. The real and fake prince who was killed in the real and fake prince case that shocked the capital was actually It’s true! The former prince and King Ding, that is, the third prince, were rescued by King Pingxi in the battle of Shanhaiguan, and were later secretly released by King Pingxi. As a result, the prince himself was robbed by thieves and could not escape, so he returned to Beijing to commit suicide. He fell into a trap. Prince Ding’s fate is unknown. At least the court doesn’t know where he went? Shijue, do you think the Emperor and the Empress Dowager misunderstood your grandfather?”
"This, this, this" Wu Shijue didn't know how to explain to Wu Sangui.
A beggar went to Yunnan with some kind of marriage certificate to marry off his grandfather's daughter, A'ke? Even if Wu Sangui could agree to this matter, Chen Yuanyuan would not do it!
Unless this Hanako is not an ordinary Hanako, but Prince Zhu San!
Seeing that Wu Shijue's words were all in vain, Wang Zhongxiao knew that he couldn't deny it, so he smiled and said to him: "Brother Shijue, please don't help your grandfather! Now the whole Beijing knows about your grandfather. If you are going to rebel, what else is there to say? Moreover, your grandfather is holding Oboi in one hand and Prince Zhu in the other, and he has hundreds of thousands of soldiers. In such a situation, if you don't rebel, how long will it take? You really have to wait for the emperor to take action. The new army is ready to fight again?"
"Yes!" Wu Xiaotuo had been convinced by Wang Zhongxiao, "Brother Ye Changmengduo, our grandfather is quite old, and Obai is also an old man. In a few years, will their bodies still be as strong as they are now?"
Wu Shijue nodded slightly with his brows, "That's right."
He made up his mind, carefully put away the copy of "The World is Public", and then said to Wang Zhongxiao, "Second brother, it seems that I have to leave for Yunnan immediately. I will leave tomorrow!"
Wang Zhongxiao also breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Wu Shijue had followed his own path and was about to go to Yunnan with the revolutionary truth of "the world is for the common good and the world is unified" to encourage Wu Sangui to rebel. Then he said to Wu Shijue solemnly: "Third brother, there may be some misunderstanding about whether Obai is hiding in Yunnan. But this misunderstanding can no longer be explained clearly.
The emperor, the empress dowager, and the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty all believed it, and were already preparing to attack King Pingxi! So, Brother Yu has something he wants you to tell King Ping Xi! "
Wu Shijue asked: "What are you talking about?"
Wang Zhongxiao said: "If the emperor feels that Aobai must be in Yunnan under the rule of King Pingxi, then it is best to have an Aobai in the palace of King Pingxi!"
"Third brother, this is the road guide opened by the Jiumen Admiral's Office for you. With it, no one will dare to embarrass you at the checkpoints along the way."
"Brother, take care of yourself all the way. When you see grandpa and dad, kowtow a few more times for me, and tell them that Xiao Tu will ask Bodhisattva every day to bless them and send troops north as soon as possible to restore the world of the Han people!"
"Sister, don't worry, grandpa will call Beijing soon!"
Early the next morning, in the southwest of Haidian Town, outside a long pavilion at a crossroads, there was another scene of farewell to loved ones and friends. The person who is traveling this time is Wu Sangui's adopted grandson, Wang Zhongxiao's sworn brother and uncle-in-law Wu Shijue. Besides Wang Zhongxiao, the one who came to see him off was Wu Xiaotuo.
The conversation between the two siblings made Wang Zhongxiao feel a little guilty, and he quickly looked around. He found that the area was blocked by the soldiers brought by Wu Shijue. The closest ones to him were three strong men in their thirties. Wang Zhongxiao has known them for a long time. One of them is Yu Haitao, one is Wang Leiyong, and the other is He Tianran. They are all personal followers sent by Wu Guogui to his son Wu Shijue.
That day when they were playing horseback and gunfighting on the outskirts of Kunming, the three of them followed Wu Shijue. Although their performance in that competition was not very good, Wu Shijue sent out all the girls.
But the martial arts and military strategy of these three are actually first-rate, and all of them are Miao Zhenggenhong. They were originally subordinates of Li Dingguo, the king of Jin in the Southern Ming Dynasty. They belong to the third generation of "Xianthief" whose ancestral home is Shaanxi. They followed Li Dingguo's son Li Sixing to surrender to Wu Sangui - - When Li Sixing was at the end of his rope, he still had 1,200 unconvinced remnants of defeated soldiers. Wu Sangui was afraid that they would offend the Eight Banners Heavenly Soldiers if they followed him to Beijing, so he left them in Yunnan.
The elite among them were divided among the backbones such as Wu Yingqi, Wu Guogui, Xia Guoxiang, and Hu Guozhu. These backbones would lead them to improve their rebellion techniques and stay loyal to the Qing Dynasty together!
I don't know if it's because I saw a large group of "good boys from the Eight Banners" here in Beijing. These three people and their master Wu Shijue seem to be holding back a sense of "rebellion."
In addition, now Li Sixing has led more than a thousand people from the right wing of the Shanpu Camp to camp at the foot of Wutai Mountain. I don’t know if these three old troops of King Li Jin will have the opportunity to reunite with the "Little King of Jin" in the future and do some big things together. ?
Thinking of this, Wang Zhongxiao cupped his hands towards Wu Shijue and said: "Third brother, after seeing you for thousands of miles, we will say goodbye. Today we will say goodbye! I hope that the day we meet again in the future will be the time when China will be rebuilt!"
"Hahaha, that's good!" Wu Shijue laughed and said, "Rebuilding China is actually the achievement of our generation. It's so magnificent to be here in this world! Fortunately! We will definitely leave our name in history and set up a pavilion in the future!"
Wang Zhongxiao saw that Wu Shijue was confident, so he nodded and said: "Okay! In the future, you will follow King Pingxi in Yunnan to raise an army to revolt, while my father and I will temporarily stay in the Qing camp to accumulate strength and find out information. We should still secretly Keep in touch and communicate with each other, so that at the critical moment, my father and son can fight back and respond to the king's internal situation."
"That's great!" Wu Shijue was overjoyed when he heard this, "Your father will be the leader of the Guangdong and Guangxi armies in the future, and my family still has many old friends in the Guangdong and Guangxi territories. When the time comes, let them join forces with you, and my family will send troops to Huguang." , then Huguang, Guangdong and Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou are connected into one!"
"Okay," Wang Zhongxiao said, pointing to Yu Haitao, Wang Leiyong, and He Tianran who were standing around, "Third brother, these three are your confidants, right? Why not let them follow me for the time being. From now on, I Dad is in Guangdong, I am in the capital, and you are in Yunnan. Let them handle the matter of communicating and exchanging news!"
"Okay!" Wu Shijue smiled and said to the three people, "Yu Dahai, Wang Dalei, and He Dashi, you three will each bring three soldiers. You will stay with my second brother from now on. Seeing my second brother is like seeing me!"
It turns out that "Haitao", "Lei Yong" and "Tian Tian" were all given names after these three became officials. Their original names were "Da Dahai", "Big Lei" and "Big Beard".
Wang Zhongxiao looked at these three "final ministers" who had rebelled since childhood. They were all burly and ferocious-looking men. Although they had shaved their hair and changed their clothes and became military attachés of the Qing Dynasty, they still looked unconvinced. .
At first glance, he is a good candidate to join the Tiandihui!
"I'm humble enough to ask you, the king's bodyguard, to protect you!"
The three "final ministers" walked up to Wang Zhongxiao and saluted him together.
Wang Zhongxiao nodded, then patted his chest and said with a smile: "The three eldest brothers will temporarily hang out with me from now on. I can't guarantee anything else, but promotion and wealth are certain! What kind of officials are you now?"
"Report to the king's guards," the leader among the three should be the bearded man named He Dachan. He cupped his hands and said, "I and the other three are all in charge."
"Okay!" Wang Zhongxiao said with a smile, "I will arrange a Mr. Wei Qian for each of you later. Starting from next month, you will get double money and food every month!"
"Thank you, the king's guard!"
Yu Haitao, Wang Leiyong and He Tianran saluted Wang Zhongxiao together.
Beijing, the thin and long Pipiaoying Hutong.
As the New Year approaches, the Pipiaoying Hutong area is particularly lively. The group of Eight Banner disciples in the inner city who have learned a lesson are already free, but now they are even more relaxed. Of course, they must come to Bada Hutong to "do good deeds and accumulate virtue." And the next year is another year of great competition - the Imperial Examination Competition! Although the quota for Jinshi in the Qing Dynasty was reduced by more than half compared to the previous dynasty (seats had to be made for disciples of the Eight Banners), the enthusiasm for candidates from all over the country to take the exam was still very high. The New Year's Eve had not even passed, and they had already rushed to Beijing with a lot of travel. . They couldn't enter the inner city, so they had to squeeze in the outer city. They were naturally indispensable around the Bada Hutong. Some of the wealthy people would also hang around the Pipiaoying Hutong.
Pipiaoying Alley, which was originally a bit cold, suddenly became lively!
In the narrow alley, people were coming and going, many of them dressed as scholars.
As it was approaching noon today, a group of southern scholars came into the alley. The leader was a fair-faced scholar, none other than Chen Yonghua. Together with Chen Yonghua, there were a few who looked a little thin, with slightly raised cheekbones, and a pair of With a southern appearance, he looks like a Fujian or Cantonese scholar.
This group of scholars walked very quickly, looking left and right as they walked, appearing very alert. After a while, a group of them arrived outside the dilapidated courtyard belonging to Yang Qilong.
A few rather stout gangsters were squatting lazily outside this dilapidated yard. When they saw Chen Yonghua and his group coming, one of them pushed the door open and entered the yard. The rest also knew Chen Yonghua, and they all stood up and bowed slightly to Chen Yonghua. He bowed and looked around.
After a while, the door of the house was opened with a creak, and then Yang Qilong, dressed in a black leather robe and a warm hat, appeared inside the door surrounded by two men.
Chen Yonghua cupped his hands at him: "Third brother, I'm here to wish you a happy new year!"
Yang Qilong also smiled and returned the salute, and then pointed toward the courtyard: "Brother Fufu, please come in quickly!"
Chen Yonghua turned around and winked at the Fujian scholars who were guarding him. The group of Fujianese people immediately dispersed and formed a warning circle. They looked quite tough at first glance. They probably came not to take the literary Jinshi exam, but to take the exam. Wu Jinshi’s!
Chen Yonghua followed Yang Qilong toward the gate. As he walked, he said, "Third brother, why did you call me over in such a hurry?"
Yang Qilong did not answer Chen Yonghua, but pulled him into the living room, and then closed the door and said in a solemn tone: "Fu Fu, something big happened! The court may be targeting the third prince!"
"What?" Chen Yonghua was shocked when he heard this, "How could the court be targeting the third prince? Third brother, are you right?"
"How can I be wrong about this?" Yang Qilong said, "Fufu, I am now helping King Yu to lend money, and I am also the worshiper of the outside of Nianggan Department. Do you know what the Dongtangzi of Nianggan Department does? ?Can my news be wrong?"
"Then, do you know where the imperial court is eyeing the third prince?"
Yang Qilong said: "Suzhou Mansion!"
Chen Yonghua's face turned ugly now. Chang Mingyue told him that the third prince was in Suzhou!
Seeing Chen Yonghua's expression, Yang Qilong knew that he was in serious trouble. He quickly comforted Chen Yonghua and said, "Fufu, don't worry. The emperor just gave a secret order to the Jiangsu governor to send out his trusted soldiers in civilian clothes for control. He has to wait for the imperial envoy Yue Le to go south before taking action." People, so we still have a chance to rescue the Third Prince."
Chen Yonghua frowned, "Rescue? How to rescue? We don't have many people in Suzhou, so we can't take advantage of it."
Yang Qilong thought for a while and said, "Since you can't take advantage by doing it, you can only use trickery!"
Chen Yonghua hurriedly asked: "A plan? What plan?"
Yang Qilong smiled and replied: "Brother Fufu, I have a plan to get into the tiger's den!"
(End of chapter)
