It was early morning on May 30, the fifty-ninth year of Qianlong's reign.
Today, Shopkeeper Dong, as usual, got up and washed up when he heard the clock chime from the direction of Chongwenmen, and then went out to drink tea at the "Donghongtai" teahouse.
He lives in Caochang Santiao, very close to Zhengyangmen Street. After exiting the alley, there is Shuichang Hutong. Walk west to the end, diagonally opposite Dashilan on the left; and a little further south, it is located at the end of Yupi Hutong. "Donghongtai" teahouse in Guangzhou.
This man's real name is Dong Xinchen, a native of Shangqiu County, Henan Province. He is thirty-seven years old and comes from a small and wealthy farming family. When I was a child, I went to private school for several years, but due to changes in my family, I stopped continuing. At the age of seventeen, I started to do small business with a burden, walking through villages and alleys every day, and my life was not bad. In the fiftieth year of Qianlong's reign, there was a great disaster in Henan. The Shangqiu area was the hardest hit, and people were starving. Dong Xinchen, like other people who fled, settled in Kaifeng with his wife, children, and children.
It happened that Xu Dayong was ordered by Zhao Xin to gather the refugees at that time. In addition to buying people in the human market, he also hired some hired workers through Yaren, mainly to cook for the refugees inside and outside Zhuangzi. Dong Xinchen is a foreigner, and it is not easy to make a living in Kaifeng. However, this man is quick-witted and generous in his work, and he got to know a Yaman through deliberate friendship. The latter happened to be helping Xuzhuang recruit workers, so he introduced him in exchange for a hundred dollars.
Because he was literate and had experience in business, Dong Xinchen quickly stood out among the servants in Xuzhuang. After a year of this, Xu Dayong felt that this man was serious about his work and not greedy for petty gains when it came to money. After several trials, he took him overseas by boat and saw the Thor. After receiving the "shock education", Dong Xinchen's family went to Beihai Town, divided the land and got a house. Unwilling to face the loess and turn his back to the sky, he entered the Ministry of Trade and worked under Shen Jingdan.
Four years ago, Dong Xinchen was ordered to go to Beijing and opened a north-south goods shop on Zhengyangmen Street under the name "Huang Shengtai". Since then, Beihai Town's first intelligence point in the capital was established. Except for his wife Dong He who lived with him and two telegraph operators disguised as servants, the other local accountants and clerks did not know that the boss behind them was the number one "rebel" in the world.
During his years in the capital, Dong Xinchen's greatest achievement was to develop the eunuch, the deputy general manager of the Jingshifang, into the spy of Beihai Town, which enabled Beihai Town to extend its tentacles into the Forbidden City. Basically, major events in the palace would occur within three days. Zhao Xin will know.
Today, the Northern Navy Intelligence Bureau has established a total of five intelligence substations inside and outside the capital. The first branch is based on "Huang Shengtai" north-south goods; the second branch is an antique shop called "Fan Gutang" on Liulichang East Street outside Xuanwu Gate. Its main task is to connect Ruan Yuan, who works in the Hanlin Academy. It is to buy antique calligraphy and paintings for Zhao Xin; the three-point station is in Haidian Town, and it is a medicine shop to the outside world. Its main task is to monitor and inquire about the situation in the Old Summer Palace; the fourth-point station is near Qingfeng Gate outside Dongbian Gate, and it is a home to the outside world. In the wine shop, everyone from the shopkeeper to the waiters are members of the Cao Gang who defected to the Northern Navy; Wuwufen stands at the Tongzhou Canal Wharf, and it is a domestic grain store to the outside world.
For the sake of safety, unless there are special circumstances, the various intelligence stations never have lateral contact. They only receive direct orders from the intelligence agency through the radio. Four of the substations were dedicated to action teams, and they were responsible for delivering anonymous letters to the houses of Liu Quan and Ruan Yuan.
Normally, during normal times, Dong Xinchen would stay in the teahouse until noon before returning to the shop, but not today; Prince Yi's grandson caught Zhou Li because he was also the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and "Huang Shengtai" was now a supplier to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Shang, so I have to give a gift no matter what. Furthermore, Li Qiucheng said last month that he would go today as well, just in time to meet up.
Seeing that it was almost time, he went home, changed his clothes, and called a personal entourage--actually a bodyguard assigned to him by the Intelligence Bureau. With the gifts and posts prepared in advance, he got on the mule cart and drove away. Chongwenmen entered the city and arrived at the destination at the end of the year.
Prince Yi's Mansion is located in Qihua Gate (Chaoyang Gate), in the east of the city. It is neither lonely nor very lively in the capital. In fact, this is not the earliest Prince Yi's Mansion. The Prince's Mansion in Yunxiang's era was located in Jinyu Hutong east of Wangfujing. After the death of Yunxiang, the first Prince Yi in the eighth year of Yongzheng's reign, Yongzheng respected his last wish and converted the palace into a temple; and because he gave Yunxiang the posthumous title of "Xian", it was called "Xianliang Temple". Historically, Xianfeng kicked his legs. The seventh-generation Prince Yi Zaiyuan, one of the eight ministers of Gu Ming, was soon sentenced to death. The iron-hatted prince was gone, and the palace was confiscated. Later, it was given to Daoguang's ninth son. Yizhen was changed to Fujun Palace.
The one who came to arrest Zhou Li today was Yixun, the eldest grandson of Prince Yi Yonglang. His father was Mianbiao, the second son of Yonglang. In the first few years, he was named the Duke of the Eighth Auxiliary State. Because Yonglang only had two sons, and the eldest son Mianjin died more than ten years ago, Mianbiao became the The perfect candidate to be the next Prince Yi. If nothing unexpected happens, Yixun will naturally be the future young prince.
Dong Xinchen got out of the car more than fifty meters away from the palace. There were carriages and sedans parked at the entrance of the palace, blocking the door. After entering the palace gate, the chief attendant handed over a red greeting card and a gift list. The eunuch in charge of welcoming guests took the invitation and opened it, then looked at the valuable gifts on the gift list. He nodded with satisfaction and then read loudly: "Master Si Dong, the Changlu Salt Transport Envoy, has arrived!"
Well, if a businessman in the capital wants to establish a relationship with the Ministry of Internal Affairs to do business, he can't even think about it without an official cover. This is not only a matter of having an official position so that you can do things easily, but it also allows others to understand your strength. Without a net worth of tens of thousands taels, doing business with the Ministry of Internal Affairs would cost you your life.
Before Dong Xinchen came to Beijing, the Intelligence Bureau first asked him to return to Shangqiu and spend 1,200 yuan to donate a prison student. In the second year after arriving in the capital, he spent 150 taels of silver to donate a tribute student to the Ministry of Household Affairs. I spent more than 5,000 taels and donated it to a Salt Transport Si Yuntong with a false title; if this was the kind with a real title of candidate, it would cost at least 10,000 taels.
Although the current situation in the Manchu Qing Dynasty is that Wang Xiaoer is celebrating the New Year, many dignitaries do not dare to be too ostentatious, lest Qianlong be unhappy. But the Manchu people attach great importance to their children's first-year gifts, and the Yonglang lineage has only a few descendants, and they only have grandchildren when they are almost fifty. So after asking Qianlong for permission in advance, Prince Yi's Mansion invited many guests today, including Prince Baylor and his female relatives, including his banner slaves who were officials in Beijing, some close Manchu, Han and Mongolian ministers, and a group of Qing guests.
According to the rules, the ceremony of catching the week must be carried out before noon, and then the banquet can be held to eat longevity noodles. In the afternoon, a theatrical troupe will take the stage to show the joy. However, at this time, everyone finally discovered that the real master of the palace had not shown up yet, so many people couldn't help but ask.
After hearing the explanations from Yonglang's Dafujin and his son Mianbiao, everyone realized that Prince Ganqingyi and Prince Ding were rushed into the garden before dawn. The specific reason was unknown. The princes Baylor present all looked at each other in confusion, wondering what could possibly happen that they couldn't even care about arresting Zhou for their grandson? Could it be that something big happened to the court? Never heard of it!
In fact, everyone in Prince Yi's palace also found this strange. Mian Biao sent someone to the garden early in the morning to ask when Amma would come back. Unexpectedly, the person who asked the question did not see Yong Lang at all, but a eunuch came out to say that the emperor was discussing important matters with Prince Yi, Prince Ding, and Zhongtang. He would not be able to come out for a while. He asked the palace what to do. What should I do? There is no need to wait for him.
When things got to this point, none of the princes and ministers in the capital knew that something big had happened in the Old Summer Palace, and a chaos was just around the corner.
Although Yong Lang was not there, the ceremony could not be delayed when the time came, so amidst the blessings of relatives and friends, the young prince, wearing a tiger-head hat and tiger-head shoes, was carried out by the wet nurse. After everyone present said a few auspicious words, the Zhuzhou Ceremony began.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the royal family's ritual of catching things was called "Zuopan", which means to list things on a plate and let the children catch them to see their ambitions. Speaking of which, this was still a custom of the Han people in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the Manchus learned it before entering the customs. However, the royal family's Zhuzhou is different from that of ordinary people, and the items provided are very different from those of the common people.
Standing outside the crowd, Dong Xinchen stood on tiptoe and stretched his neck to look, and saw Dafujin smilingly bringing up a wooden plate with a dazzling array of things on it, including jade ornaments, jade fan pendants, gold spoons, silver boxes, agate fan pendants, A small bell with rhinoceros horn, the four treasures of the study, a bow, an arrow, and a pair of small mallets tied with red silk ropes.
One-year-old Yixun stared at it with big eyes, looking at this and that. Without hesitation, he stretched out his little hand and picked up the small clock with rhinoceros horn. He held it with both hands and brought it to his mouth to chew. Not even interested anymore.
"Okay, okay! From now on, the little prince will eat like a bell, and it will be incredibly expensive!"
"Good sign, good sign!"
Although there were congratulations all around, which made the owners of Prince Yi's Mansion smile with joy, except for the young ones, the elders among the iron-hatted kings present frowned slightly, and then returned to normal. Prince Li Yongen and Prince Zhuang Mianke looked at each other, and a bad premonition arose in their hearts.
Why did the naughty kid catch such a thing! Although the meaning of the bell represents "the bell rings and the cauldron eats", at least he should have grabbed another golden spoon. The problem is that the child only grabbed a bell. This would have been repayable in peacetime, but with the current general trend of the world, the future of the Manchu people is already in danger. Who knows when the Northern Navy enters the customs, and everyone will have to pack up and go to the snowy plateau to eat highland barley.
Yonglang has been passed down from three generations to one generation. This child is only one year old now. It is not a joke to get sick in that place. It seems that the future of Prince Yi’s line is not good!
Afterwards, everyone went to the banquet hall and sat down. Prince Li Yongen looked around and asked strangely: "Why didn't you see the young couple from Runpu today?"
After hearing this, Mianbiao explained: "Hefu sent someone to deliver a letter in the morning, saying that the princess was feeling unwell this morning. She asked the imperial doctor to see her and said she was infected with wind and cold. She was afraid that it would be transmitted to the child."
The two of them were talking about Heshen's sons Fengshen Yinde and Princess Hexiao. They had promised to arrive in the post a few days ago, but unexpectedly this morning they suddenly said they couldn't come. However, although no one came, the gift had been delivered early in the morning, and it was a double gift. Therefore, although Dafujin and Mianbiao were a little disappointed, they could not say anything.
Yongen nodded, glanced around again, and said to himself: "That's not right, why aren't Yongjun and his wife here?"
Mianbiao shook his head in surprise and said, "I don't know. Maybe I was delayed because I came from Haidian? I was punished with three drinks."
What the two were talking about this time was Yongjun, the grandson of Kangxi's seventh son, Prince Chun Yunyou. This man married Heshen's eldest daughter more than ten years ago and was considered a key member of the Hedang Party in the clan. After the death of He Shen in another time and space history, he was implicated, depressed and frustrated, and died of illness before he was fifty.
The speaker is unintentional, but the listener is interested. Decheng, the Minister of Industry at the table next to him, said: "Speaking of Runpu, I heard something about it before I came here."
"Tell me and listen." Nowadays, Heshen is so powerful that countless people are fawning over him. His every move, word and deed will attract the attention of powerful people.
Decheng smiled and said: "Actually, it's not a big deal. I heard from my subordinates that his family lives in Badiao Bay, north of Desheng Bridge. He said that the carriage that came out of Hefu early this morning was a pick-up truck. There was one car, and there were people sitting in the car. The car left Deshengmen and headed north. I don’t know what it was doing.”
"Could it be that you are going to the Bixia Yuanjun Temple on the north top to burn incense? You are not living in the right place." Prince Li Yongen rolled his eyes, beckoned to the eunuch behind him, and whispered: "Go and inquire about Hefu movement."
"嗻."
Dong Xinchen, who was sitting far away, could not hear all this. What he was most concerned about now was when Li Qiucheng would arrive. However, he waited and waited until the banquet was over and the troupe started to sing, but he didn't see the other party. He was unwilling to leave just like that, so he decided to continue waiting. The two have not seen each other for two months. It is not easy for Li Qiucheng to leave the palace. He usually passes the news through a cook in the imperial kitchen.
It was almost four o'clock in the afternoon. Dong Xinchen, who was listening to the opera, was suddenly tapped on the shoulder from behind. He turned around and saw that it was Li Qiucheng.
"Ouch~~Mr. Li! I give you my regards." Dong Xinchen wiped his sleeves and gave the other party a greeting.
Li Qiucheng put his hands behind his back and said with a smile: "Shopkeeper Dong, I just said that it looks familiar from behind. We haven't seen each other for a long time!"
Dong Xinchen understood, and pretended to be polite to the other party for a while, and then followed the other party outside in the name of seeing "Manager Li" off.
"Something's wrong today. The emperor didn't show up in the garden all day, and He Zhongtang blocked several people who were handing out signs to say hello. Many things in the palace were delayed because of this, otherwise I would have come earlier." Li Qiucheng said slowly while talking. Go away, whispering softly.
"sick?"
"It's hard to say. The Taiyuan Hospital didn't receive an order to send anyone to the garden."
"Has this ever happened before?"
"No. And there's one more thing. The person who went to the garden to deliver the zhezi came back and told me that the emperor didn't even leave Jiuzhou Qingyan today, so I felt something was wrong."
"Please keep an eye on me if you are troublesome. If there is any news in the garden tomorrow, it will be the same place as before."
"I know." Seeing that Li Qiucheng was about to reach the gate of the palace, he hesitated, stopped, turned around and asked in a very low voice: "When will you enter Shengjing?"
"It's only a few days."
"Enter the customs as soon as possible. I'm very nervous every day."
Dong Xinchen said with a smile: "Don't worry, it will only be a year or two. How did you say the nine-character mantra?"
Li Qiucheng thought to himself, please pull him down! Don’t think I don’t understand, we’ve heard people talk about “The Miracle of Yuntai”. It’s been nine years, and we’re still building a wall by hoarding food! I don’t know what that person was thinking. He didn’t enter the capital and sit on the throne, but he actually sent troops to attack Xinjiang.
Just when the two of them came to the gate of the palace and were about to say goodbye, they heard a "bang" from the east, followed by another one.
"Whose bastard is setting off firecrackers in broad daylight, scaring our little master, don't you think?" A servant of the palace just started to curse, and then he heard three more explosions in succession from the east.
"Tum!"
"Tum!"
"Tum!"
After five explosions in succession, Li Qiucheng suddenly stopped and froze like a clay doll. He was standing at the door of the palace, tilting his head as if thinking about something. This appearance confused Dong Xinchen and several palace servants at the door.
"Manager Li, what's wrong with you?"
Suddenly, Li Qiucheng walked quickly to the street, climbed up and looked west without caring about whose carriage it was. Only a moment later, he suddenly shouted: "No! This is not a firecracker, it's the message cannon on Qiongdao White Tower that went off!"
"Xinbao?" Several people at the door were confused.
Then Li Qiucheng's expression changed, and he shouted loudly to a servant of the palace: "Go and tell your master, the White Tower message cannon has gone off, the Yellow Dragon Flag has been hoisted, something big has happened!"
Dong Xinchen was suddenly shocked. Before he could ask what the relationship between Pao and Qi had with the accident, he heard Li Qiucheng say: "Shopkeeper Dong, get out of the city quickly. If you're too late, you won't be able to get out!"
Unexpectedly, before he finished speaking, the sound of cannons rang out from all directions, southeast, northwest and northwest. At this time, Dong Xinchen wanted to go out of the city again, but it was already too late!
The last Prince Yi's Mansion in history is located in Beijige Hutong, northeast of Dongdan intersection, and the ruins are still there. In the third year of Tongzhi, Zaidun, the fourth grandson of Prince Hongjiao of Ningliang County, inherited the lineage of Prince Yi. His residence was still called Ningjun Prince's Palace, but the name was changed.
(End of chapter)
