In the sixth year of the Ming Dynasty, it was early May.
Beijing city, Jinyiwei backstreet.
A brand-new four-wheel box-type prison truck rumbled past the most prime street in the center of Beijing and turned into the alley where the Fusi Yamen of Jinyiwei Town is located.
At the entrance of the alley, a school lieutenant wearing a blue Feiyu uniform, carrying an embroidered spring knife, and a small flintlock pistol came forward with a few soldiers carrying flintlock spears on their backs to inquire. This new-style prison car had guards on the front and back carrying flintlock guns and riding Mongolian horses, as well as a cavalry leader wearing a red-soled flying fish suit. When someone came to ask, he took out a token (actually a piece of paper) and handed it over.
The captain in blue who was guarding the entrance of the alley took the token, examined it carefully, and then raised his eyebrows: "Hey, we caught the chief master of the Confucian Northern Secret Hall!"
The red-clothed Tiqiu stroked his beard, grinned and said, "That is a serious crime punishable by death!"
The captain in blue responded with a smile: "Then you have to open your eyes... Come, I will lead you in."
As he spoke, the captain in blue raised his hand to the main gate of Beizhen Fusi on the street behind Jinyiwei and shouted: "We're here for the big mission, open the door halfway!"
Opening the door half way means opening one of the two gates of Beizhen Fusi, so that the new four-wheeled prison car can drive directly into the yard of Beizhen Fusi. This is not a treatment that can be given to all kinds of prisoners. Since the opening of the Fusi Yamen in Beijing's Jinyiwei North Town, only two prisoners have enjoyed such treatment. The last one was Li Guangdi, the chief master of the Confucian Southern Dark Hall, who was also escorted in this way.
The person being escorted today is Chen Tingjing, the chief master of the Confucian Northern Secret Hall!
Chen Tingjing is in his forties and looks quite majestic. He looks like a high official at first glance. Even though he has been slovenly for many days and his gray beard is a bit messy, he still looks very dignified. Since he was a repeat offender, he was handcuffed and shackled, locked directly in the carriage, and made a bumpy journey. It was a terrible crime. But when he was dragged out of the carriage by two soldiers from the Royal Guards, he still tried hard to maintain the demeanor of a high-ranking official in the imperial court. "Hmph", he struggled and said: "Let me go, I can walk!"
A Jinyi Wei Tiqi who spoke in Cantonese snorted, pointed at Chen Tingjing and cursed: "Shame on you, mother! You don't know it when you are about to die. Li Guangdi, who was taken into custody last time, is smarter than you. He has already joined the Ming Dynasty and became an official." Got it!"
Chen Jingting was stunned for a moment, and a glimmer of light flashed across his lifeless face, but soon the clouds gathered again, "Humph, I was born as a Qing minister, and died as a Qing ghost. I would rather die than be a second minister!"
His words were strong, and he believed them, with his chest held high, as if he was ready to die generously. . As soon as he finished speaking, he heard someone calling his name.
"Brother Ziduan, you are fine."
"Brother Ziduan, I've been looking forward to seeing you!"
Chen Jingting turned around and saw two Ming officials wearing green official uniforms and black gauze hats walking out of the lobby of the Zhenfu Department with their robes in hand. The two of them looked familiar, but Chen Jingting was a little uncomfortable in the prison car. I was so dizzy that I didn't even remember who they were?
But what these two people said was really a bit irritating. He was like this, how could he still be "all right"? Why did you expect to come here...Pan Lai beheaded, no, is it Pan Lai Lingchi? When Chen Jingting was about to get angry, the two people had already arrived in front of him and bowed their hands to him together.
"Brother Ziduan, I am Zhou Peigong! We haven't seen each other for just a few years, and you have forgotten me?"
"Brother Ziduan, I am Li Guangdi...can't you recognize me?"
"Zhou Peigong? Li Jinqing?" Chen Jingting was shocked, "You two..."
Zhou Peigong smiled and said: "Yes, yes, the two of us have already voted for the Ming Lord!"
Li Guangdi sighed: "It's a pity that I voted late..."
Chen Jingting said in his heart: "It's not that you applied late, but you were admitted early. You are a great talent in Quanzhou, Fujian, and are from the same hometown as King Yanping. If you don't get admitted in the ninth year of Kangxi, you will never participate in the tenth year of Kangxi again." Those who took the imperial examinations of the Qing Dynasty in the second year must have voted for the new Ming Dynasty. Now they have long been a hero of the restoration of the country, and maybe they have been awarded a title. Unlike me, a Shanxi native, my family still does not welcome Shanxi merchants... ....No, how could I have such an idea?”
When he was feeling guilty for his ridiculous idea, Zhou Peigong and Li Guangdi had already picked up Chen Jingting and walked to the lobby of Beizhen Fusi. As they walked, they persuaded them to surrender.
"Brother Ziduan, come with us quickly to meet the commander of the Beijing Jinyi Guards, Mr. Feng Xifanfeng!"
"After meeting Mr. Feng, it will take at most three days to see the Holy Sage... The Holy Sage is kind and has heard of Brother Ziduan for a long time. He will definitely give Brother Ziduan an official position!"
Chen Jingting became anxious when he heard this, "What are you talking about? I, I, Chen Jingting, were born as a minister of the Qing Dynasty and died as a ghost of the Qing Dynasty. I am not a second minister!"
"You're confused! Brother Ziduan, no one wants you to be a second minister!"
"Yes, don't be the second minister, be the third minister!"
Chen Jingting was confused, "Why are you three ministers? I have never been an official in the former Ming Dynasty. When I became an official, I was an official in the Qing Dynasty... I was only six years old when Emperor Weizong died for his country!"
"That's right, one of your ministers is loyal to the Qing Dynasty, two ministers are loyal to the Mongolia, and three ministers are loyal to the Ming Dynasty!"
"Why is it Zhongda Mongolia?"
"Don't you know? The Qing Dynasty is gone!"
"Yes, no more...the Western Qing Khanate was transformed into a vassal of the Great Mongolia! You are now a minister of the Great Mongolia, a proper second minister!"
"How can it be calculated like this?" Chen Jingting was a little confused by what Zhou Peigong and Li Guang said. He was a good minister of the Qing Dynasty, and he clearly did not skip the job. Now he has become a minister of the Mongolia. This is too unfair.
Before the settlement was settled, Chen Jingting had been dragged into the lobby of Jinyiwei North Town Fusi by Zhou Peigong and Li Guangdi. As soon as I entered, I heard shouts of "powerful...powerful".
"Kneel down quickly!"
"Kneel down and pay homage to Feng Weishuai."
Zhou Peigong and Li Guangdi were so warm-hearted that they pushed Chen Jingting to the ground before he could react. Chen Jingting still wanted to struggle, but Li Guangdi had already said to Feng Xifan in Hokkien: "Commander Wei, Chen Jingting knows that he made a mistake and is willing to change his ways and serve the court. Please give him a chance, Commander Wei."
Feng Xifan was very polite to Li Guangdi, as they were both fellows from Quanzhou... Moreover, the Li family in Anxi, Quanzhou was a well-known and scholarly family. When Zheng Jing regained Quanzhou, many of his disciples became officials in the Ming Dynasty. Some of them are very familiar with Feng Xifan, and they are all from the Southern Fujian-Chaozhou group! So after Li Guangdi surrendered, he actually felt a warmth in the Ming Dynasty that he had never felt in the Qing Dynasty.
So Feng Xifan smiled and nodded: "Okay, okay, as long as this guy named Chen is willing to surrender, the court will certainly allow him to rehabilitate himself."
Li Guangdi immediately said to Chen Jingting in Mandarin: "Brother Ziduan, Mr. Feng said that as long as you are willing to surrender, the court can let you reform."
Zhou Peigong smiled: "Surrender quickly... Anyway, you have already surrendered to Mongolia once. What's the point of surrendering to Ming Dynasty again?"
"Why did I surrender to Mongolia?"
Zhou Peigong said: "Emperor Tongzhi surrendered, but you don't surrender? If you don't surrender, then you are not a minister of Mongolia. Now that the Qing Dynasty is gone, you are just a commoner. Feng Weishuai wants to recommend you to be an official. Why don't you still Don’t you kowtow to express gratitude?”
In just a few words, he dismissed the Qing Dynasty and described Chen Tingjing as a common man.
"I, I..." Chen Tingjing was speechless.
Feng Xifan looked at Chen Tingjing and said with a smile: "Chen Tingjing, if there is a step, just go down... The Qing Yao is gone if it is gone. If you consider yourself a Mongolian minister now, you will be a third surname if you vote for the Ming Dynasty again." A domestic slave! I don’t think you will be loyal to Mongolia, right? Even if you are loyal to Mongolia, you will still be a second minister! If you are not a minister of Mongolia and directly join the Ming Dynasty, you will still be between the first minister and the second minister. From now on. If I were to compile a "Biography of Erchen", it would be hard to include you in it!"
This seems to be the truth!
Chen Tingjing did the math and realized that if he was beheaded for his loyalty, he would still be a second minister after being beheaded. If you simply surrender to the Ming Dynasty, you may not necessarily be a second minister... In this case, why not surrender to the Ming Dynasty?
