The next day, Dong Qichang, who lived in the student residence of Beijing Middle School, sent his grandson Dong Ting to the inn to inform Zheng Haizhu that the Dong family's ancestors and grandsons would first bring Ni Zan's landscape paintings and meet the prince's accompanying Wang An to reminisce about the past in the name of old friends appreciating the paintings. Zheng Haizhu went to visit Wang Gonggong and the two Donglin sects Yang and Zuo.
Zheng Haizhu understood such social etiquette and said to Dong Ting: "I follow Mr. Dong's arrangements. However, I have a good friendship with Mr. Liu Shimin of the Admiral Weaving Bureau, and I will be visiting him in the next few days."
The great masters in the Forbidden City have villas outside the palace.
When Zheng Haizhu came to Beijing to receive the order, he went to Liu Shimin's outer house in Jinchengfang Hutong to check in. This time, he directed Li Daniu to hand over the post and visited the house at the end of the day.
At this time, eunuchs could find palace maids as "caihu maidens". Those with certain social status could also hire daughters of small families who had studied in the capital but were poor and poor as wives and concubines.
But when Zheng Haizhu came back, there was no trace of Liu Zhai's wives, concubines or Caihu palace. There were only three or four male servants in charge, and the only woman was an old and crude washerwoman.
There is no change this time.
The servant invited Zheng Haizhu into the back house, and Liu Shimin was already waiting at the door of the study.
"The heat is gone now, so let's just sit and have tea in the courtyard." Liu Shimin showed the kindness of an elder and asked Zheng Haizhu to sit at the stone table and asked, "Have you visited Xianglin and his wife?" ?”
Zheng Haizhu nodded and told the whole story about the confrontation between him and the prince Guanzhuang in Gyeonggi Province.
Liu Shimin said "Hey", and then smiled and said: "It's like what you always like to do. I have been reading at home recently, and I didn't know. Tomorrow, I will find a way to enter the palace tomorrow and help you inquire, Ciqing What happened to the Palace and Yikun Palace because of this?"
Now that Zheng Haizhu's identity has arrived, and his past friendships have been laid out, he does not hide his probing look and said bluntly: "My father-in-law is not going to be on duty in the palace, nor is he going back to the Suzhou Weaving Bureau to watch?"
Liu Shimin leaned forward slightly and said softly: "Girl, the boss is going to the west of Hexi. The shopkeeper outside is not allowed to come back and pay the account clearly to the young master? But there is not only one young master, but also the mistress in charge of the house. Not only one end, but also outside the wall, there is a large group of Jinshi gentlemen making noises. At this time, why should I rush to the front and wait until the division in the big house is clear?"
Zheng Haizhu said "Oh" and made a sign of understanding: "My father-in-law has thought carefully."
But what she was thinking was: No, aren't you Liu Shimin the prince's companion, Wang An? If Wang An hadn't gone to Wanli and the Queen to fight for you, how could you have gotten such a lucrative job in the Admiral Weaving Bureau?
This is the critical moment of the fight between Concubine Zheng and the Crown Prince. As Wang An's direct henchman, you are hiding in a villa outside the palace reading a book?
Zheng Haizhu picked up the tea cup and took a sip. He looked up and saw the towering Baita Temple outside the roof. He said casually that when he asked the supervisor of the patrol camp that day, he learned that the Yamen of the patrol camp was near the Baita Temple.
"Eunuch Liu, how many troops are there in this patrol camp now?"
Liu Shimin was stunned, but he thought that Zheng Haizhu would not associate him with Cui Wenjing of the patrol camp, so he pretended to be curious and said: "Manbian, there must be ten thousand people, how did you think of asking this?" "
"Oh, didn't I also use the vacancies in the camp in Chongming to train the Liao people? I thought about it, so I asked around. Ten thousand people? This number is really not small. The horses must be several thousand larger, right? Xianglin's guest army outside Beijing , is it just such a battle?"
Liu Shimin stared at Zheng Haizhu, but for a moment, he smiled and said angrily: "It's a good thing you didn't ask this in front of General Xiaoma. How can the combat power of the patrol battalion be compared with Xianglin's team, they are just a mob." Not to mention Xianglin's chieftain soldiers, even if you randomly select a few from the Jinyi Guards to deal with the patrol camp, one is worth ten."
When Zheng Haizhu heard the last sentence, his eyes suddenly darkened, and he avoided Liu Shimin and lowered his eyes to the tea cup.
Liu Shimin suddenly understood what the problem was with his words.
He patted his forehead solemnly, his hoarse voice full of apology.
"Girl, I know what you are thinking of. That day in Sheshan, at Tai Miao's house, several Jurchen spies ran away. You must be thinking, how come Liu Shimin, an old fellow, has some skills of his own and is accompanied by a royal guard? I can’t control them, and now I still have the nerve to brag.”
Zheng Haizhu raised his head and looked directly at Liu Shimin: "Father, how could I not know that during a night attack, in a desperate situation, the outcome is unpredictable, let alone the enemy's total annihilation. I just, in the past few months, have often Thinking of Bond. I feel uncomfortable, so uncomfortable. This is not as simple as losing my right and left arm. Bond died trying to save all the people in Zhuangzi. The Tatars are so vicious, they are just like animals. They did not destroy us Han people in Liaodong. Even the Han people who escaped were not spared! And the leading bitch among the Tatar spies just got away like this..."
Liu Shimin was initially conceited and conciliatory, but as he listened, his heart felt like clouds covering the mountains, and his frustration became more and more clear.
His father, whom he had admired since he was a child, had served as deputy commander-in-chief of the Liaoyang Army. Twenty years ago, he led an army in a surprise attack to stop the Tatar invasion. Unfortunately, he was killed by an arrow. Before his death, his father told him that he would be loyal to the old master, but the people, regardless of whether they were the people of the new master or the old master, we, the men, should protect and love them.
His father entrusted him with the responsibility of restoring the old master's inheritance. This entrustment turned into a sharp blade, cutting away the roots of dust and helping him enter the palace. And his father's words about the common people were another sharp blade that engraved the importance of integrity and righteousness that had never changed throughout the ages deep in his heart.
Zheng Haizhu's narration undoubtedly made Liu Shimin experience that moonlit night again.
When he heard the Holy Lord saying that he would let go of the leading Jurchen spy, he felt as if he had been hit hard in the head and was in disbelief.
When Liu Shimin later heard the news that Wu Bondang had died in Chongming, thinking about his father's situation back then, Liu Shimin felt a breath stuck in his throat.
At the same time, the tacit understanding of their partners for many years told him that Miao Ruiyun and Lao Liu had the same resistance to the Holy Lord's move to let Tong's daughter go.
Therefore, when he heard that Miao Ruiyun personally dissuaded the Holy Master from accepting Zheng Haizhu as his concubine, Liu Shimin also lightly helped Miao Ruiyun.
From facing Ma Xianglin yesterday to facing Zheng Haizhu today, Liu Shimin faintly realized that he was a living person after all.
What lives in the minds of living people is not only the loyalty of the king and his ministers, but also the friendship that we are never alone.
Liu Shimin then sighed deeply: "Azhu, do you know that my father died at the hands of the Tatars in Liaodong back then. Even though I encountered what happened that night half way, I deeply regret that I could not capture him. Get that bitch.”
Zheng Haizhu was silent and said in a deep voice: "By the way, father-in-law, since we mentioned this matter, I have an idea and I just want to ask for advice."
"You speak."
"In the Jinyi Guards of the imperial court, Beizhen Fusi is responsible for monitoring secrets. There must be many good spies among them. When I come to Beijing this time, I not only want to clarify that the Jurchen spies going south have nothing to do with the Songjiang Switch, and we can't pour dirty water on them. Regarding the switching strategy, I would also like to advise the court that we should not only focus on monitoring and investigating the courtiers, but neglect the intelligence and spying on foreign captives."
Liu Shimin narrowed his eyes.
This girl has learned from the pain, and she makes sense.
Why couldn't the Ming Dynasty imitate the Jurchens' spying behavior like hunting in the night?
Zheng Haizhu struck while the iron was hot: "Father, I heard that the statue of Yue Fei is enshrined at the entrance of Fusi in Beizhen. Yue Shaobao fought against the Jin soldiers back then. And I also heard that Luo Sigong, the current commander of the Jinyi Guards, was in our Ming Dynasty. When reinforcements were sent to Korea, they fought brilliantly against the Japanese. They are all foreigners, and Commander Luo will not take them lightly."
Liu Shimin nodded and said slowly: "You are right when you think about it like this. I want to teach you that although I am a chamberlain, I have not been familiar with the Dongchang these years. I can have a drink with Commander Luo of the Jinyi Guard. Wherever you go, when you go south on errands, you always have Tiqi with a royal guard. I'll take you to see Commander Luo later."
"Thank you, father-in-law! Who is the governor of Beizhen Fusi now?"
"It's Liu Qiao, a hereditary royal guard in his family, and he has the same temperament as Commander Luo. Neither of them is a person who indulges in lawsuits and prisons. The Dongchang people like to go to Wansui to gossip, saying that the Fusi Prison in Beizhen is very peaceful and empty. There are not many people locked up on the ground, and the grass grows tall on the green bricks at the door."
Zheng Haizhu pursed his lips and said, "It is the right way not to report on lynchings internally, but to fight the enemy together externally. Today I talked about old times and new things with my father-in-law, and gained a lot of knowledge. Azhu left first and went back to prepare the local ritual gifts. I'll listen to my father-in-law later."
Liu Shimin also stood up, walked her to the door, and suddenly warned: "Admiral Cui of the patrol camp is the brother of Concubine Zheng and the former Grand Eunuch. At this juncture, it is best for you to stay away."
Zheng Haizhu Fuli: "Remember the father-in-law's advice."
After leaving Liu's house, she sorted out the personnel information Liu Shimin gave her today.
Although Jinyiwei and Dongchang have always been criticized by the civil service group, Luo Sigong, the commander-in-chief of this term, is recorded in historical records as standing in Donglin. Later, in the "Gong Move Case", he also assisted Yang Lian and Wang An to snatch away Zhu The school helped him successfully become the Emperor of Tianqi.
Now it seems that Luo Sigong does have a good reputation. His colleague, Liu Qiao, the governor of Fusi in Beizhen, was also a person who did not fall in line with the later eunuchs.
In fact, in Zheng Haizhu's eyes, only Donglin civil servants deserve to be clean and upright. Aren’t Yan Siqi, Ma Xianglin, Wang An, Liu Shimin, and Luo Sigong all in varying degrees of purity and integrity?
She is willing to do her best and use her skills, just like Song Yingxing opened canals to divert water, guiding clear streams to irrigate the territory of the Ming Dynasty.
After walking south through Fengcheng Hutong, the Yamen of the Metropolitan Procuratorate stands in front of you.
"Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou should be able to see each other in a few days."
Zheng Haizhu muttered, then turned to Li Daniu and Dong Erya and told Li Daniu and Dong Erya: "Looking for a shop is not that urgent. In the past few days, you should first see where Admiral Cui of the patrol camp lives and where he will go after he is off duty."
