Linxia

Chapter 224, Arrival

After leaving Jining Prefecture, Fang Lin and his party passed through Linqing Prefecture, went to Tianjin, and finally arrived in the capital.

As the letter had arrived earlier, Dong Zugao went out of the city to greet him. When they met Fang Lin, both were excited and held each other's arms, feeling as happy as meeting an old friend in a foreign land.

However, what surprised Fang Lin was that Dong Zugao was wearing a face scarf and asked Fang Lin and others to wear the same.

"Brother Fang, in the capital, you cannot go out without a face scarf during the spring and autumn. Otherwise, the dust and sand will fill the air as horses' hooves trample through the streets, choking people to death."

Dong Zugao shook his head: "Even if I wear a veil to block the dust from my mouth and nose, I still cannot avoid the sins. After going out for a while, when I return home, my nostrils are as black as chimneys."

"So, it will only be better on rainy days?" Fang Lin asked.

"Haha, not really. If it rains, it will be even worse. The saddle and people's knees will be covered with mud..."

Dong Zugao said this as he led Fang Lin and his party into the city.

Fang Lin and the others followed them into the city gate and entered the city. They witnessed the wind and sand in the capital. Wherever the horses' hooves passed, smoke and dust rose up.

Not only the sandstorms, but also a large number of people occupying the road for business. Many people put up curtains or sheds on the street, and even worse, there are many illegal buildings that squeeze into the road.

Imagine the scene: the sky is full of dust, and on the roadside, there are large areas of ugly illegal buildings that affect the cityscape.

This is a huge difference from the capital city that I imagined.

Just look at Qiuqiu and her two brothers and sisters. They had been looking forward to the capital city all the way, but now that they had finally arrived, they refused to get off the carriage and instead hid back in the carriage, covering their mouths and noses.

"Brother Dong, the imperial court doesn't care about these things?" Fang Lin asked in surprise.

"It's a long story."

Dong Zugao said: "During the reign of Emperor Taizu, an order was issued to establish the Ministry of Works, which included the four departments of Yingshang, Yuheng, Dushui, and Tuntian, which were specifically responsible for managing various matters in the city. Later, during the Jiankang period, Emperor Taizong found that the capital was too large, so he established the Five Cities Military Command. The so-called Five Cities Military Command was the Five Military Commands of East City, West City, South City, North City, and Central City, and was referred to as the Five Cities Military Command. It was responsible for preventing evil, arresting thieves, clearing ditches, patrolling fire prevention, etc."

"This Wucheng Bingmasi, by analogy with the previous life, seems to have done the work of the fire department, urban management, sanitation, police station and other agencies."

Fang Lin knew without even thinking about it that such a hard-working government office would easily become lazy and idle over time, forming a bureaucratic style and doing superficial work.

As expected, Dong Zugao said, "During the Hongde period, in order to strengthen the management of the Five Cities Military Department, the imperial court established the Five Cities Inspection Office, also known as the City Inspection Office, and ordered the Jinyiwei to inspect the Five Cities. The purpose was to supervise the work of the Five Cities Military Department... But even so, many things still could not be done."

"Oh, what do you mean?" Fang Lin became interested.

"Speaking of the Five Cities Military Department, it has a low position, heavy responsibilities, and little power. For example, the commander of a city's military department is only a sixth-rank official. Just like these illegal buildings, they should also be managed by the Five Cities Military Department. But if there are people with backgrounds behind them, they can't do anything about it."

Dong Zugao gave an example: "In the tenth year of Hongtai, the new Minister of Works took office. He was determined to manage this matter and issued a document to let the Wucheng Bingmasi demolish these buildings. At that time, after receiving the order, the Wucheng Bingmasi planned to catch a typical example. First, they directed the conflict to a section of Chaoyangmen Street, gathered people with axes and hammers, and informed them according to the rules. Then, regardless of whether the vendors agreed or not, they started to demolish them."

"That piece of building was connected together and was jointly built by dozens of merchants. The other party relied on their large numbers to argue with the Wucheng Bingmasi, and finally even came to blows... The officials and the people had a big fight, and it also affected the passing Hu Ke Jieshi Zhong. In the end, the matter was brought to the court, but because those merchants had people behind them, the matter was left unresolved."

"Yes, there are many hidden dragons and crouching tigers in the capital, and all kinds of relationships are complicated and difficult to manage." Fang Lin sighed.

"That's exactly what it means."

Dong Zugao gave another example: "Last year, just after the beginning of summer, it rained heavily for five days in a row. When it stopped on the sixth day, the roads in the capital were already unpaved. In some low-lying areas, the floodwaters directly poured into the houses, and the sewage flowed into the houses, and the household clothes and dirt floated together.

This is not what I want to talk about. One day, a commoner went out and stepped into a deep pit on the roadside and drowned. Seven or eight people died. It turned out that there was a deep pit on the road. The court sent a Jinyiwei commander to investigate the case and directly arrested the commander of the military department. Later, it was found that it was a man named Yi Shixiong who built a manor and dug several deep pits nearby. When it rained heavily, the water filled up and could not be seen on the surface.

The court held the commander of the Bingmasi responsible, but he cried out that it was injustice and that the Bingmasi had already investigated and known about the matter and should go and deal with Yi Shixiong. However, he declared that "I have someone in the Nine Gates Admiralty, and if anyone dares to obstruct us again, I will let the people of the Wucheng Bingmasi walk over and carry us back." The matter was reported to the Ministry of Works, who responded that it was not under their jurisdiction. The matter was then reported to Shuntian Prefecture, who also received a scolding.

That Yi Shixiong was arrested and imprisoned, and the Nine Gates Admiral pleaded for him. In the end, it was His Majesty who gave the order and brought him to justice. As a result, people like Yi Shixiong disappeared from the capital."

Dong Zugao smiled bitterly and said, “If Brother Fang had come two years earlier, he would still be able to see those big holes on the roadside.”

Fang Lin could only sigh after hearing this. For example, the illegal construction and digging cases, the former was left unresolved, and the latter only caught a small pawn: "The capital is full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers, and the various relationships are intertwined, but this is only the surface reason. The deeper reason is that those senior officials and dignitaries in the court live in another area. They don't see the chaos and are not harmed by it, so naturally they can't empathize with it!"

Passing by a market, you can see feces and sewage in the corners. You can imagine that if it were summer, there would be flies flying around and it would be a disgusting sight.

To be honest, this is very different from the movies and TV dramas in previous lives, where everywhere under the emperor's feet was magnificent, clean, and orderly, and the bluestone slabs on the streets looked as if they had been licked by a dog.

Dong Zugao was no longer surprised by these things, and he did not shy away from "complaining" to Fang Lin, which showed how close they were.

Fang Lin listened to this, secretly comparing it with the cities in the Jianghuai region, and had his own thoughts: 'Compared with Huai'an and other cities in the Jianghuai region, the appearance of the capital is much worse. The reason behind this, in addition to the shackles of relationships between all parties and the difficulty in governance, there are also subsequent reasons and problems with the city structure.

As for the climate problem, it was during the Little Ice Age, and the climate in the north was dry. The capital had a population of millions, and the felling of trees for heating destroyed vegetation, which aggravated the climate and made sandstorms more likely.

As for the urban structure, the Jianghuai area is where Chinese and foreign goods converge. For example, Huai'an is a commercial city, which must have a good business environment. The capital is a consumer city. In this era, apart from culture, there is no industry worth mentioning, so it pays relatively little attention to these. '

……

Dong Zugao took Fang Lin and his party to the inn, settled them down, and held a banquet to welcome them.

For example, Fang's father, Fang's mother, and Tian Xuan knew that Fang Lin and Dong Zugao had not seen each other for some time and had a lot to talk about, so they did not get together with the two men, but gave them space to drink and chat alone.

Dong Zugao asked Fang Lin about his experience here. After listening to Fang Lin's travel notes, he was very envious: "Traveling, visiting friends and giving alms, you really live a god's life!" "Haha, the poor can only take care of themselves, while the rich can help the world. I'm just an idle person. I'm not like Brother Dong who occupies a high position in the government, who worries about the world before he enjoys himself." Fang Lin raised his glass.

“Brother Fang, you have such a big mouth!” Dong Zugao smiled and shook his head. He clinked glasses with Fang Lin, drank the whole glass, and talked about the current situation in the court: “Your Majesty has not attended court for a month and has not met with outsiders. Wei Zhongxian has isolated the inside and the outside. The officials in the court cannot tolerate this and the situation is tense… In the end, the Prime Minister was allowed to go in and see His Majesty.”

"Your Majesty is in poor health... There are many troubles in the world!" Fang Lin sighed and asked, "Brother Dong has not been affected, right?"

"I'm fine, I have the protection of my master, but one of my friends was ostracized and dismissed from office by Wei Zhongxian."

Dong Zugao said: "My friend is very famous, I'm sure Brother Fang has heard of him..."

"Oh?" Fang Lin looked over.

Dong Zugao did not keep the secret any longer: "This person is Mi Wanzhong, his ancestor is Mi Fu, a famous painter and calligrapher in the Northern Song Dynasty, and he is from a famous family.

My friend was a Jinshi in the second year of Hongtai, but he was indifferent and acted on impulse. Over the past ten years, he was transferred from one place to another and served as an official in several places, but his official title remained the same and was always the seventh rank.

It was not until two years ago that he was promoted to the head of the Ministry of Revenue. This position is a Beijing official, serving in Beijing, where there are many high-ranking officials and nobles. Brother Mi also has a prominent family. If he is determined, he can rise quickly. However, Brother Mi is not very interested in being an official. Apart from making friends with like-minded people, he also loves to explore strange rocks.

Brother Mi did something stupid. One day, he saw a huge rock in Fangshan outside the city. He really liked it. His servant suggested that he take the rock home. But the rock was three feet long and seven feet wide, about the same size as a rockery. In the end, forty-four mules were used and it took seven days to pull it down from the mountain. Then, last winter, he invested a huge amount of money to build an ice track..."

Dong Zugao frowned when he said this. With his personality, he couldn't stand such extravagance. Moreover, it cost so much just to transport a piece of stone.

'Good guy! '

Fang Lin was secretly shocked when he heard this. Building an ice road to transport stones from Fangshan to the city was almost equivalent to opening a light rail between Fangshan and Haidian in his previous life.

"That person, Mr. Mi, was impeached for this?"

"Exactly."

Dong Zugao sighed and said, "Even when there were censors impeaching you, Your Majesty did not act so ostentatiously. Brother Mi mobilized so many troops. Do you still have Your Majesty in your eyes? This is a heart-piercing remark. However, Brother Mi used his own money, which has nothing to do with the court. And it happened to be Your Majesty's health... I have no intention of paying attention to these trivial matters. This matter should have just passed.

But at this time, Wei Zhongxian happened to take a fancy to a house owned by Brother Mi, and sent someone to say that he wanted to buy it. If he were a flexible person, he would have been more than happy to give the house to Brother Mi, and get close to him in exchange for a better future, but Brother Mi was not that kind of person.

In Brother Mi's eyes, he looked down on eunuchs like Wei Zhongxian, and he scolded the people sent by Wei Zhongxian. How could Wei Zhongxian let it go? He used the excuse of transporting huge stones as an excuse to spread slanderous words to Your Majesty, causing Brother Mi to be dismissed from office. "

"He is indeed a noble person." Fang Lin nodded in agreement.

He actually had no objection to Mi Wanzhong spending a huge amount of money to transport the rare stones. It was not like he was using the people's hard-earned money, but his own money, so it was the other party's freedom.

Judging from his resolute rejection of Wei Zhongxian, he was indeed a man of impulse and passion.

"Wei Zhongxian, out of his own selfish desires, formed a clique to attack those who were dissidents, and his greed was insatiable... Furthermore, Your Majesty is in poor health, and the factional struggles in the court are becoming more and more intense." Dong Zugao sighed.

Fang Lin heard this but didn't say anything.

The eunuch group headed by Wei Zhongxian was able to fight against the civil group because of the support of Emperor Hongtai. The purpose of Emperor Hongtai was to make the eunuch group and the civil group check and balance each other.

To be honest, this kind of checks and balances, with the emperor acting as an arbitrator, can cause factionalism and greatly delay the efficiency of court administration, but when the new monarch lacks the skills and prestige, it can indeed protect the emperor's power to the greatest extent and prevent it from being undermined. Moreover, as long as a sense of proportion is maintained, the situation will not get out of control.

"Your Majesty...Alas!" Dong Zugao did not continue speaking, but he obviously realized that Emperor Hongtai was supporting the eunuch group to pave the way for the new emperor.

From the perspective of Emperor Hongtai, this is naturally a good choice. However, as a member of the civil service group, he naturally sits on the side of the civil service, so he naturally has mixed feelings about this.

Fang Lin silently clinked glasses with Dong Zugao and drank the whole glass. Thinking of Emperor Hongtai's health, he felt quite sad: "I came to the capital to see Emperor Hongtai, my pen pal, for the last time, but looking at the current situation, I'm afraid I can only leave with regrets."

……

In order to welcome Fang Lin and his party, Dong Zugao took a day off and went to the yamen the next day.

As for the climate in the capital, Fang's father, Fang's mother, Tian Xuan and others really don't like it, but it is the capital after all, and its prosperity and liveliness are incomparable to other places. So they take Qiuqiu and her brother and sister to have fun in Ya's house.

At this time, Fang Lin found Missy, his Western friend, and met her.

"Dear Fang, long time no see, I missed you so much!" When they met, Missy gave him a big hug.

I have to say, this guy has been in Daxia for seven or eight years and has adapted to the local customs, while at the same time retaining Western social ways, which looks a bit funny and out of place.

It has indeed been seven or eight years since we last met in Huai'an, but we have been in touch through letters in the past two or three years. However, communication through letters can never compare to face-to-face communication.

Fang Lin and Missy walked in and sat down. Seeing each other skillfully roll up the roast duck and vegetables with pancakes, Fang Lin couldn't help but twitch his face and gave a thumbs up, praising: "Missy, you are already a genuine Daxia capital person."

"Oh, really?" Missy listened and seemed very proud of it. While eating, she talked to Fang Lin: "Fang, after I left Huai'an, I went to many places, including Yingtian, Lin'an, and Suzhou in Daxia..."

……

(End of this chapter)