scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 59
Walking out of the resplendent but gloomy and oppressive Hall of Mental Cultivation, and looking up at the Forbidden City, where the snowflakes are flying in the corridors and the eaves and teeth are pecking high, Fatty Lu's mood is not only not cheerful, but more and more heavy and aggrieved. The crystallization of labor and wisdom built by the people of the Chinese nation has now fallen into the hands of the barbarians. The barbarian chieftains live in it and enjoy the wealth and glory of the world; Slavish and servile, either kneeling and kowtowing to the barbarian Tartar chiefs three times, or being castrated as slaves, slaughtered and cut at will - whenever Fatty Lu thinks of this, he has a feeling of killing all the Tartars and barbarians in the Forbidden City impulse!

Hatred turns to hate, teeth turn to teeth, under the condition that his foundation is still almost equal to zero, of course, Fatty Lu would not be so stupid as to turn his head and rush into the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and strangle the rabbit terminator Xiao Mazi and the old witch of Xiaozhuang to death with his own hands.In desperation, Fatty Lu could only let out a long sigh, and gritted his teeth in his heart and said, "Just wait, one day, when my strength is enough, I will definitely commit myself into this Forbidden City and kill everyone in this Forbidden City." The Tartars and barbarians have been wiped out, and the Forbidden City will be recaptured!"

Having said that, Fatty Lu still doesn't have a lot of ideas about how to go in the future. Although he has killed many loyal ministers and generals so far, Kang Xiaomazi still controls the financial resources of the whole country. In terms of manpower and material resources, Wu Sangui, who he is attached to, only half-controls the recognized poor provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou, let alone a protracted war with Kang Mazi, even a war of attrition cannot afford to fight a few.And there is another point, although that old traitor Wu Sangui is a good fighter, it is a pity that there is a serious problem with his strategic vision. In the future when San Francisco riots, whether Wu Sangui will repeat the mistakes of history is still a huge problem!Therefore, for Fatty Lu, it is important to rely on Wu Sangui and help Wu Sangui strengthen his strength, but what is more important is that he must also have an armed force capable of protecting himself!

It is easy to say to master an armed force that is loyal to oneself, but it is extremely difficult to do it. It is already very difficult to form an army under the eyes of the enemy and Wu Sangui. Military expenditure is definitely not a small amount. Although Fatty Lu's family is relatively well-off, if he wants to support an army for a long time, he must also arm and train this army, which is absolutely far from enough!In addition, there are things like dismissing bosses, developing weapons, buying weapons, and buying colleagues. All the financial revenue is handed over to Fatty Lu, which is far from enough!

"Damn, peasant uprisings in history relied on human lives and robbery to obtain military expenditures. There is no way to learn this, and the success rate is pitifully low." Difficult, Fatty Lu couldn't help but followed the eunuch out of the palace, While thinking in the bottom of my heart, "The warlords rebelled or separatist regimes, Zhu Yuanzhang and Jiang Guangtou both relied on the developed agricultural business in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the old Communists relied on the sponsorship of Maozi and the distribution of land by local tyrants. These are not legal. Yan Xishan relies on Shanxi Tianfu and For coal, Sun Dianying relied on archaeology, Monk Xu relied on sea salt and Zhaoyuan gold mines, Sichuan warlords fought to snatch salt from wells, Li Zongren in Guangxi, Longyun in Yunnan and Yang Sen in Guizhou relied on planting..."

Thinking about this, Fatty Lu himself couldn't help shivering—this method is too evil and too harmful. Although it is a method and the only method currently used by the Yunnan-Guizhou army, it is still too dangerous and notorious!So much so that even Fatty Lu was so cruel and shameless that he had to consider the consequences and cost of this method, and he was frightened and fought again!
Thinking about it, before he knew it, Fatty Lu had already left Huangji Gate, and was about to leave the palace from Donghua Gate via Jianting and Wenyuan Pavilion.When passing Wenyuan Pavilion, a large group of high-ranking Qing officials came out of Wenyuan Pavilion. Seeing Fatty Lu, a seventh-rank sesame official who is not even qualified to wear court beads, coming from the direction of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, these one or two The senior members of the third rank couldn't help being extremely curious, and couldn't help talking about it, but the preoccupied Fatty Lu didn't bother to pay attention to them, he just bowed his hands and saluted them, and followed them out from the Donghua Gate.

"Dare to ask this lord, but Lu Yifeng from Yunnan, lord Lu?" Fatty Lu didn't bother to pay attention to these officials, but some of them like to have hot faces and cold buttocks, and among them is the second-rank who is wearing regular second-rank clothes. The official stopped Fatty Lu with a smile.

"The humble job is Lu Yifeng." Fatty Lu bowed his hands and looked at the second-rank official curiously. He found that he was 34 or [-] years old, with a square face and big ears, but he must have never met him.Fatty Lu tentatively asked back: "Dare to ask this lord, what is your name?"

"Pearl, Nala's." The second-rank official replied with a smile.

"It turns out to be the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Master Ming Zhuming of Hongwen Academy!" Fatty Lu was shocked, and hurriedly saluted.

"Excuse me, this is the imperial palace, so you don't need to be polite." Mingzhu stopped Fatty Lu from saluting with a smile, and said with a smile: "Master Lu, although your official position is small, I have admired your name for a long time. I can see you today. You are really handsome and extraordinary, no wonder the emperor and empress dowager Lafayette are full of praise for you."

"Ming Zhongtang has won the prize, how dare you be a lowly position." Fatty Lu said modestly, but he was muttering in his heart-why Mingzhu is also eyeing me?Could it be that this Beijing Chengwang my horoscope, a slightly famous guy can hear my name?

"Lord Lu, you are being modest. It just so happens that I have to go out to work in the palace. Let's talk about it as we walk." Mingzhu waved her hand, letting Fatty Lu walk side by side with her, and said straight to the point: "Lord Lu, I'm not polite to you either. The emperor issued a decree this morning, dismissing me from the position of chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and transferring me to the post of Man Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment. The original Man Shangshu has been changed to a bachelor of the Academy of Internal History in Kana. As for the reason, I will not hide it You, it is because of the assassination of priest Nanhuai Rennan in Xuanwumen Church yesterday. This case is of great importance, involves too much, and the emperor loves it wrongly. That's why I took on this job and led the Ministry of Criminal Justice, the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Shuntian Mansion to investigate and deal with it. the case."

"Oh, I have to congratulate Lord Ming for that humble job." Fatty Lu quickly cupped his hands, and hummed in his heart: "Boy, you should thank me, otherwise, you kid should be able to become the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment in the second half of next year!"

"Congratulations? The Chief of the House of Internal Affairs and the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment are both top-ranked second graders, just mediocre. There is nothing worthy of congratulations." Mingzhu waved her hand inappropriately, but she was very proud in her heart-although the chief of the House of Internal Affairs has a lot of oil and water, but said When it comes to power, it's not 01:30 compared with Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice.

After finishing her complacency, Mingzhu said again: "Lord Lu, the thing is like this. Just now, I checked the case file and found that the day before the assassination, Father Nan received a total of two waves of guests, one of which was you and the former governor Lin Tianqinglin. My lord, is that so?"

"That's right." Fatty Lu nodded, and then said tremblingly: "Ming Zhongtang, I just asked Priest Nan to ask him about Western knowledge, and I also asked him to find a set of books in Western languages ​​for me, wouldn't it be you? Suspicion of inferiority?"

"Lord Lu was joking, you have no grievances with Father Nan, and it's the first time to meet Father Nan in the capital, how can I suspect you?" Mingzhu smiled and said in a low voice. : "What I am curious about is, who were the other guests that day? A handyman named Li Fugui in the church confessed that there were men and women, old and young, and one of them was a strange-looking man. The young man often went to see Father Nan, and the conversation lasted for a long time, and Father Nan treated him very respectfully——can Master Lu enlighten me, who is this young man?"

"Ming Zhongtang, I don't dare to answer this question." Fatty Lu said cautiously: "However, I dare to advise you, Ming Zhongtang, it's best to pretend that this wave of guests doesn't exist. The humble job is for Ming Zhongtang's sake."

"Could it be that that young man is the one you just went to visit, Master Lu?" Mingzhu asked softly with a smile.

Fatty Lu saw that there was no one around, nodded his head, and said softly: "Back then, I didn't know the identity of that honored guest, I just found out. ——If I didn't guess wrong, the emperor is also because of this, That’s why I asked the most trusted Master Ming to investigate this case.”

"Unsurprisingly, it really is him!" Mingzhu nodded, pondering in her heart: "No wonder the emperor wants to transfer the unreliable Du Kana away and send me to investigate the case. That old stupid pig made a big fuss, I don't know how much trouble there is going to be!"

Thinking up to this point, Mingzhu cupped her hands to Fatty Lu, and said, "Thank you Lord Lu for your guidance, I will keep it in mind, and I have to go to the Xuanwumen Church to investigate the murder scene, so I will leave first."

"That's such a coincidence." Fatty Lu said casually: "The humble official sent someone to buy paper money for incense candles, and was about to pay homage to Father Nan's spirit to thank him for the chance. If the humble official cannot enter the church, Please also ask Ming Zhongtang to be accommodating."

"It's easy to say." Mingzhu agreed, and seeing that Fatty Lu is Xiao Mazi's new favorite, she also said casually, "In that case, then Master Lu and I should go to Xuanwumen Church with me, it will be more convenient." Fatty Lu also thought of going to the scene to see if the Liu family brothers, Fang Shiyu and others had left any clues, so he agreed without hesitation, and followed Mingzhu out of the palace.

After getting out of Donghua Gate, Mingzhu got into the sedan chair, and Fatty Lu walked around to Zhengyang Gate. Xiao Erlang and the Liu family brothers had already gotten impatient waiting here.Fortunately, under Fatty Lu's reprimand, Xiao Erlang and the brothers of the Liu family have also become more sophisticated and sophisticated. Seeing Fatty Lu coming with a sedan chair of a strange official, they didn't rush up to ask questions like before, instigating Lu The fat man knocked on the bone, sucked the marrow and scratched the ground, and just asked a few symbolic words, then invited Fatty Lu into the sedan chair, carried Fatty Lu and followed Mingzhu to Xuanwumen Church-poor bearer!
The sedan chair creaked and arrived at Xuanwumen Church. The church where the murder case had just occurred had already been blocked and surrounded by the guards of Shuntian Prefecture, and no one was allowed to enter or leave.But for Fatty Lu who was escorted by Mingzhu, there was no problem at all. He led a few accomplices and lackeys who were also murderers behind Mingzhu, and swaggered into the church courtyard.And at the entrance of the church, several officials came out from the church to greet Mingzhu.

"My lord Wang, my lord Li, how is your investigation going?" Mingzhu asked the two leading officials impatiently.

"Returning to Mingxiang, I have led the guards of Shuntian Mansion to investigate for a long time, but I still haven't found any clues." The unlucky Shuntian Mansion Yin Li Tianyu Master Li said dejectedly: "The only thing that is certain is that the person who killed Father Nan must have been killed." I am very familiar with the terrain of the church, so I was able to sneak into the church without anyone noticing, and then escaped without anyone noticing, without alarming anyone in the church."

"Another point is that the person who killed Father Nan was probably a veteran. He killed him with one stab, straight into the heart, and didn't use a second stab." Another middle-aged black and thin man in a third-rank official uniform said calmly: "Besides, the next The officials also found an important clue, the dagger that killed Priest Nan came from the workshop of the capital camp, usually only soldiers in the army or powerful guards can have it, and it is difficult for ordinary people to see it."

"Liu Xu is a smart kid. He killed that drunk Oboi guard. In addition to getting his badge, he also took his dagger and wiped out another clue." Fatty Lu praised secretly in his heart.

"Then, what about the waist card?" Mingzhu asked, "Have you found out the history?"

The black and thin man didn't answer, but first glanced at Fatty Lu who was following behind Mingzhu. Mingzhu came to his senses and said, "Tell me, this Lu Yifeng, Mr. Lu, is a friend of Father Nan, and he came to offer incense to Father Nan." , has nothing to do with this case.”

"You are Lu Yifeng, Master Lu?" The black and thin man showed some joy on his face, and asked Fatty Lu: "Master Lu, I heard that you visited this church the day before yesterday, can you tell me about the church at that time?" Case?"

"This..." Fatty Lu turned his gaze to Mingzhu.

"Master Lu, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Wang Xu, the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate." Mingzhu pointed to the black and thin man and introduced him, and introduced Li Tianyu, Yin of Shuntian Mansion. Then she said to Wang Xu: " Master Wang, you can ask Master Lu to your heart's content later, but you don't need to ask about the other guests, do you understand?" Mingzhu gave Wang Xu a wink as she spoke.

"Understood." Wang Xu had long suspected that the little pockmark in another wave of guests was the little pockmark who lived in the Qianqing Palace, so he immediately nodded in agreement, and then said: "The humble staff went to the Aozhongtang mansion this morning, and have a look. After inquiring, I found out that a guard named Tang Chuan in Ao Zhongtang disappeared yesterday, and this badge may be Tang Chuan's badge."

"It's really a waist card from Oboi's family!" Mingzhu shuddered, and hurriedly asked: "Then, have you found the whereabouts of Tang Chuan?"

"No." Wang Xu spread his hands helplessly, and said, "Not only that, the captain of Ao Zhongtang's bodyguard, Waihu, also forced the subordinate officials to help find him, saying that he wanted to see people alive and corpses in death!"

"I hope it's not a thief calling for a thief." Mingzhu sighed softly, waved her hand and said, "Okay, let's go in, Mr. Lu, you go to pay homage at the coffin, and I will personally go to the scene of the murder to have a look."

Do as the Romans do, Nan Huairen's body was parked in the middle of the church hall. After entering the hall, Mingzhu, Wang Xu and others went to investigate the murder scene, and Fatty Lu asked Xiao Erlang to bring incense candles and offer sacrifices. After burning a stick of incense, he knelt down in front of Nan Huairen's mausoleum, weeping and wailing with tears and snot, "My priest Nan, you died so unjustly! You have done good deeds all your life , Spread the gospel of the Lord, why did you just go like this? The one who killed a thousand swords was so cruel, how could he be so cruel to a good person like you...?"

"Father Nan, although you and I have only met once, but for your character..." While crying hypocritically, Fatty Lu thought about it again, "I never thought that Wang Zhu would be the one who assisted Mingzhu in investigating this case." Xu, this guy is a master who is not afraid of water and fire. No matter who is involved in this case, I am afraid that nine cows will not be able to pull back. Should I use this opportunity? How about trapping a few more traitors to go in? Although there may not be much hope of trapping Oboi, it shouldn’t be a problem to trap a few traitors who are still minor players, right?”

"When I go back and study "Lai Junchen's Notes" carefully, that kid is a good at using cases to deceive people. Learn from him and see who uses this case to deceive people!"

(End of this chapter)