Xuanyuan Jue

Chapter 72
What the yamen servant said made Feng Shengang feel relieved again.There are actually armor clothes in the smoke, which can't help but make people suspicious.

Thinking of this, Feng Shen asked the yamen servant to wait where he was, and hurried back to the flower hall by himself.

In the Laihua Hall, Feng Shen told Tang Zijun what happened.Tang Zijun couldn't help being surprised when he heard this.

After pondering for a long time, Tang Zijun said: "It seems...that group of gangsters have a lot of plans. I just don't know what secrets are hidden in those armor clothes and silk handkerchiefs..."

"Yes," Feng Shen frowned, "I'll go to the yamen to find out what happened!"

Tang Zijun stood up and hurriedly said, "I'll go with you!"

"Don't bother Brother Tang," Feng Shen waved his hand and said, "Brother Tang has been running around all night, you should take a good rest. When I come back from the yamen, I will tell Brother Tang the details."

Tang Zijun is not a member of the Gongmen, and he does not want to involve too much in the affairs of the Gongmen.So he nodded and stopped insisting.

Feng Shen summoned Feng Quan and told him to tidy up the two guest rooms, cook gold and jade, sweep the couch and keep guests.In addition, Feng Shen also quietly instructed Feng Quan to guard the muskmelon and not to have any troubles with Tang Ziqi again.

After giving these instructions, Feng Shen apologized to Tang Zijun, "Don't blame me for being slow", and hurried out of Feng's house with the yamen servant outside.

On the way, the two of them didn't want to talk to each other, they just hurried away.After a while, he came to Shuntian Mansion.

In the government office compound, several corpses lined up.Under the command of Fu Yin, several yamen servants have cleared out most of the smoke and soil in the abdomen of the corpse.

Seeing Feng Shen approaching, Fu Yin hurried forward to meet him.

After saluting, Feng Shen asked: "My lord, I heard that there are other things hidden in the smoke?"

"That's true," Fu Yin nodded, showing embarrassment, "But... those armors and pendants, I don't know what to do with them."

The two of them were talking, when the inspector shouted, "Here's another piece!"

Feng Shen's expression froze, and he took a few steps closer.Sure enough, the oiled paper bag in the hand of the yamen servant was wrapped with a piece of cotton armor with a white background and a red border!

"Look again!" Fu Yin hurriedly urged, "Check every package carefully!"

"Yes!" All the yamen servants agreed and continued to rummage.

But when all the smoke and soil were checked, the nail piece was never found again.

Seeing that there was nothing else, Fu Yin ordered all the yamen servants to clean up the scene, took the armor pieces himself, and came to the back hall with Feng Shen.

After entering the hall, the two closed the door and covered the windows, and spread the armor pieces they got on the table one by one.

Looking around, there are eight pieces of cotton armor on the case.Four pieces are yellow, white, red, and blue, and the remaining four pieces have red and white borders.Eight pieces of armor, all of the same size, are all decorated with copper nails.Using multicolored cotton thread, I embroidered some patterns of hornless dragons.

After Feng Shen looked at it, he faintly felt that the situation was serious: "My lord, these... are like the armor clothes of the nobles of the Eight Banners!"

"It's definitely the Eight Banners," Fu Yin said with a hint of worry in his eyebrows, "It's just... the embroidered pattern is very weird!"

"Oh?" Feng Shen was taken aback for a moment, "The lowly position is dull... please tell me clearly."

Fu Yin raised his hand and pointed: "Nephew, take a closer look, how many claws and toes are there under this hornless dragon pattern?"

"One, two, three..." Feng Shen's heart trembled, "There are five claws!"

Fu Yin nodded and remained silent.

Feng Shen knew that "five claws are dragons, and four claws are pythons".In the whole world, only the emperor can wear Nine Dragons embroidered satin.Even the prince didn't dare to serve the dragon before he ascended the throne, except at the grand ceremonies.As for the courtiers and princes, they can only be embroidered with python patterns.If you meet the grace of God and bestow a five-clawed dragon satin, you should also remove one claw and turn the dragon into a python.However, regardless of whether it is a dragon or a python, there must be two horns on the forehead, how can it be like those embroidered on the armor plates, the top is empty? [1]
Thinking of this, Feng Shen said again: "My lord, let's not talk about four claws and five claws, just because there is no horn on the top of the head, it's not like a dragon... I've never heard that there are dragon embroidery decorations in the Eight Banners Army. "

"This residence is also very puzzled..." Fu Yin sighed, and said again, "Leaving aside the embroidery pattern, in the opinion of my nephew, where did these eight pendants belong to the armor?"

Feng Shen hurriedly took a piece and looked it up in front of his eyes: "This piece of armor is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, in the shape of a slanted rectangle. I secretly thought it was a 'front block' for a belly protector!"

Fu Yin nodded to show his agreement.

The armor of the Qing Dynasty is mostly wrapped with cotton satin.Before the Manchus entered the customs, they were in the extremely cold north.If it is an ordinary copper armor, it often cannot stand the cold.Therefore, they use thick cotton as the surface, and ring armor iron leaves are embedded inside.It can not only keep out the cold, but also defend itself.

Cotton armor consists of two parts, the skirt and the armor.The skirts are divided into left and right sides, with a tiger's head covering the knees in the middle; on top of the armor, there are shoulder pads, armpit pads, and a heart mirror.There is a "left guard" on the left side of the waist, and the right side is left empty, which is used for hanging arrows on the saber.And under the front front of the middle is the front shield of the abdomen.

Although they knew that this was a bit of an advance, Feng Shen and Fu Yin still had no clue.Staring at those weird embroidery patterns, he was helpless.

Suddenly, Feng Shen remembered something: "My lord, I heard that the front panel was torn off, and a silk handkerchief fell out?"

"There is such a thing," Fu Yin said, "At first I didn't know that the armor was hidden inside the smoke. When the yamen servants unpacked it, they cut and tore it clumsily. The silk handkerchief was put back in its place, and the one with the blue flag was !"

Feng Shen heard the words and hurried to look.Xiang Lan's front block really made a hole.Feng Shen poked his finger into a folder, and pulled out a white silk handkerchief.

"I don't see any tricks on this silk handkerchief," Fu Yin said with a wry smile, "I've been looking closely for a long time."

Feng Shen didn't give up, he just kept touching the silk handkerchief.But after looking at it for a long time, it was really as Fu Yin said.No matter how Feng Shen looked up at it through the light, kneaded and shook it, the handkerchief was still as white as paper, and nothing unusual could be seen.

Seeing nothing, Feng Shen had no choice but to give up.He picked up the inlaid blue front guard, intending to stuff the silk handkerchief back first.

The moment he raised the front barrier, Feng Shen's eyes lit up: "My lord! There seems to be embroidered characters on the lining here!"

"Oh?" Fu Yin quickly stepped forward, "Where is it?"

Feng Shen quickly turned the lining inside out, revealing the embroidery on the inside.

When they looked closely, both of them were dumbfounded.Neither of them could read a single word embroidered on the lining!
After a while, Feng Shen said: "My lord...this is Manchu..."

"That's right," Fu Yin thought for a while before saying, "Nephew, take your pen and ink, and first copy this Manchu script on paper."

Feng Shen understood Fu Yin's intention, so he didn't say much, and copied it as he said.

After Feng Shen finished transcribing, the Fu Yin opened the door to deliver the order.Not long after, a yamen servant hurried over.

This yamen servant is in the flag. His ancestors entered the customs from the dragon.Therefore, I can read Manchurian characters.

When he saw Fu Yin, the yamen servant beat him up and asked, "What orders does your lord have?"

"Come and take a look," Fu Yin handed the transcribed words to the yamen servant, "what's written on it?"

"Yes." The yamen servant agreed and took it.

The yamen servant just glanced at it, then suddenly frowned and reread the word several times.

Seeing that his expression was not right, Feng Shen and Fu Yin looked at each other, and asked urgently, "What do you mean?"

When the yamen servant heard this, he pointed to the paper and read out word by word: "Ba Ya La Tiao is true!"

"Ba Ya La Tiao Ezhen?" Fu Yin said in shock, "Did you see it right?"

The yamen servant looked at the line again, and said firmly: "It can't be wrong...it is indeed these few words."

"Well," Fu Yin collected himself, took the note back, and told the yamen servant, "Don't let others know about the note!"

"Yes," said the yamen servant, "don't worry, my lord, my subordinates will keep their mouths shut!"

Fu Yin nodded and said, "Go down and do your job."

After the yamen servant left, Fu Yin's expression was solemn, and he kept pacing up and down, thoughtful.

Seeing this, Feng Shen couldn't help asking: "My lord, what is the meaning of 'Ba Yala'? It has caused you to be so worried."

Hearing this, Fu Yin stopped his feet: "Your nephew doesn't know something... Although I don't know all the characters, I have heard of the name 'Ba Ya La Tiao'!"

Feng Shen cupped his hands and said, "My lord, please explain in detail."

Fu Yin took a long breath and said: "Before talking about the 'Ba Ya La Tiao', we have to talk about the old system of the Qing Dynasty. Because the Manchus are good at riding and shooting, every tribal village is named 'Arrow' when they go out for expeditions and hunt. In the Manchu language, the arrow is "Niulu". Over time, it is called the team. After Taizu Longxing, conquered Liaodong, Jianyuan Tianming. Expanding the army to three hundred, compiled into a Niulu. Five Niulu, a Jia La; Wujiala is Yigu Mountain. And this Gushan, translated into Chinese, is called 'flag'!"

Feng Shendao: "About this... I've heard about it from a lowly position."

Fu Yin continued: "The leaders of Niulu, Jiala, and Gushan are all called 'Ezhen'. The banner owners of each banner will select elite and loyal people from the Gushan under their jurisdiction, and compile them into 'Bayala'.纛座', as the personal guard. And the captain of each team is the 'Ba Ya La 纛 Ezhen'!"

"My lord," Feng Shen said again, "Since this 'Ba Ya La Tiao Battalion' is a personal guard, it is not a garrison of the Eight Banners. It has continued to this day, and the name should have been changed long ago, but I don't know which battalion it belongs to... "

Fu Yin said: "What my nephew said is right. Since Lord Shunzhi succeeded to the throne, the imperial court has repeatedly promulgated the policy of integrating Manchu and Han. The names of Niulu Ezhen, Jiala Ezhen, and Gushan Ezhen have also been changed to 'Zuoling', 'Canling' and 'Dutong'. And the 'Baya Latiao' should be the current guard barracks!"

When it comes to guarding the military camp, Feng Shen naturally knows.The Beijing Banner Forbidden Army is divided into several battalions: Xiaoqi, Qianfeng, Jianrui, Infantry, Shenji, Sumo, and Tiger Gun.The guard barracks is one of them.The lieutenant soldiers in the guard camp are all selected by the Eight Banners.Specializes in the police and guards, the opening and closing of various doors, and the transmission of keys.Up three banners, guarding the imperial palace; down five banners, guarding the prince's mansion.It can be said to be "the forbidden within the forbidden".

Thinking of this, Feng Shen said: "Since it is the front of the guard barracks, why don't we ask someone to go to the guard barracks to see if it is something they lost."

(End of this chapter)