scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 72 Listening to Fatty Telling Stories

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Kang Mazi's current imperial court is like a new machine, which is about to run in and be on the track of normal operation.What I have to do is to secretly remove a few screws on the core components of this machine, pull out a few fixing bolts, replace a few tubes of lubricating oil and a few sealing rubber rings, and install one or two different screws if I have a chance. With suitable gears, when the machine is running fast, it can be scrapped logically.

———— This famous saying comes from Lu Yifeng, the magistrate of Qujing County, Yunnan, in the Qing Dynasty.

It's easy to talk but hard to do real things. In the past few days in the capital, although a few traitors and foreign devils have been tricked miserably, the two real San Francisco confidantes are in great trouble. You can't catch them, and you can't set them up.And these two scourges that Fatty Lu hated to the bone were naturally Xiao Mazi's two powerful accomplices in quelling the San Francisco Rebellion in history-Tu Hai and Yue Le.

These two scourges cannot be rectified. It is really no wonder that Fatty Lu is incompetent. The origin of these two scourges is too great. Although Tu Hai's background is not as good as Yue Le's, he was conferred as Cong Yipin in the 12th year of Shunzhi in the former Qing Dynasty. Taibao, the crown prince, was in charge of the Ministry of Punishment and a bachelor of the Hongwen Academy. He ranked third among the [-] bachelors of the Shunzhi Dynasty. , plus hereditary as a first-class light car captain, who walks in the study and participates in government affairs, such a great man, who is only a seventh-rank sesame official, can afford to provoke Fatty Lu?

That's all for Tu Hai, the more difficult thing is Yue Le, this guy is not only Xiao Mazi's cousin, but also has made great military exploits. He once killed the famous Zhang Xianzhong and Zhang Damo with his own hands. Appointing Han landlords and gentry to ease ethnic conflicts is a rare reformist and practical faction of the Yezhupi family. He was named Prince An and has a higher title than Wu Sangui. How can Fatty Lu provoke such a person?

What's more troublesome is that ever since Shunzhi started to use the four life-saving ministers to assist the government, Yue Le, who knew what he was afraid of, was very clever and took the initiative to hand over all the power, hid at home and lived in seclusion, and took the initiative to cut off all ties with the old ministry.Such a smart person, don't say that Fatty Lu set him up, even if he just wants to see him, how can he be pulled out like a screw?
It is also because of this that Fatty Lu inevitably wants to take the opportunity to get in touch with these two scourges when he comes to Tiren Pavilion to enjoy the delicious food from the imperial kitchen—after all, Fatty Lu is destined to fight with these two powerful enemies on the battlefield in the future. For those who are more competitive, it is always good to take this opportunity to learn about future rivals.

After drinking for three rounds, the various officials began to toast each other politely. Fatty Lu specially agreed to sit at the head of the third table. The person at the same table was either the prince or Baylor. The officials were all older than Fatty Lu. Neglect, stood up and filled the wine glass with Prince Baylor at the same table, held his own wine glass with both hands, and said respectfully: "My lords, my lords of Baylor, I am fortunate to be seated at the same table with you by the grace of the Lord. Respect to all princes, Lord Baylor, please."

Fatty Lu's attitude can be regarded as respectful, but it is a pity that the princes at the table, Baylor, didn't seem to hear Fatty Lu's words, they just talked to each other, and despised Fatty Lu to the bone.Fortunately, when Fatty Lu was extremely embarrassed, a middle-aged man wearing a flat yellow dragon robe sitting in the second seat raised his wine glass, touched Fatty Lu lightly, and said with a smile: "Lord Lu, please."

As if being pardoned, Fatty Lu hurriedly drank face to face with the middle-aged man, which barely relieved his embarrassment. Unfortunately, the middle-aged man was a taciturn person. Chew slowly.Fatty Lu also knew that it was difficult for him to integrate into such a circle, so he asked the middle-aged man cheekily: "My lord, where is Prince An sitting? Can you give me some pointers, I want to visit him one time."

"I am Yue Le." The middle-aged man asked with some doubts: "Master Lu, what do you want from me?"

"What a coincidence, you are Yue Le?" Fatty Lu was a little dumbfounded, and quickly scrutinized his future rival, and found that Yue Le was about forty years old, with a dignified Chinese face, thick and black eyebrows lying on the silkworms, A pair of eyes sparkled, and at first glance, he was not such an easy-to-provoke character.Fatty Lu quickly raised his wine glass with both hands, and said respectfully: "Prince An, I don't know the identity of the prince in a humble position. If I am disrespectful, I hope the prince will forgive me. The purpose of looking for the prince in a humble position is to thank him face to face."

"Why do you want to thank me?" Yue Le was even more puzzled.

"Returning to the lord, Lu Yifeng's grandfather has a direct brother who was doing business in Sichuan next year." Fatty Lu babbled, "After the traitor Zhang Xianzhong entered Sichuan, he was brutally killed by Zhang Ni. Lu Yifeng's family was in grief and hated Zhang Ni to the bone. Thanks to the lord who killed Zhang Ni on the battlefield, he avenged Lu Yifeng's family. There is no respect for a lowly position, and I will toast the lord again to thank the lord for his revenge."

"Oh, so that's the case." Yue Lexin thought it was true, and he really picked up the wine glass and touched Lu Fatty again, and then said unhurriedly: "To kill the traitor Zhang Xianzhong, this king is also acting according to the order, Mr. Lu You don't have to be grateful to this king. If you really want to repay your kindness, after returning to office, you only need to protect the people and be an honest official, and this king will be very happy. But if you become a corrupt official, this king will be very happy with you. The fate at the same table will not spare you lightly..."

"Yes, yes, yes." Yue Le taught me a lesson, Fatty Lu nodded respectfully and agreed, and cursed in his heart, "Damn it! If I knew I could drink at the same table with Yue Le today, I should have brought a pack of rat poison today." Come in, find an opportunity to put it in Yue Le wine glass, when there are so many people here, who can be sure that I did it?"

When Fatty Lu thought about it, his face inevitably showed a somewhat absent-minded look. Over there, Yue Le put down his airs and taught a seventh-rank sesame official to work hard. Fatty Lu was still so perfunctory. Fatty Daulu, like most officials, ignored his kind words—in fact, the situation was a hundred times more serious than Yue Le guessed.Fortunately, Yue Le not only has a deep city, but also has excellent self-cultivation. He didn't explode on the spot, but stopped talking and said: "Master Lu, please sit down for a while, this king is going to talk to Prince Kang."

After all, Yue Le got up and left. Fatty Lu didn't even have a talking partner at the table, but Fatty Lu was not in a hurry, he just analyzed carefully in his heart.Yue Le has the highest status among the guests at this table, but he is the only one who can put down his airs and clink glasses with a lucky seventh-rank official like himself, and treat each other as equals - it can be seen that Yue Le should be a person who is good at appeasing People who are human-minded and courteous corporals must belong to that kind of role in the army. Such an enemy is also the most difficult and dangerous kind of enemy.To deal with such an enemy, it must be extremely difficult to defeat him head-on on the battlefield. The best way is to take advantage of his weakness of high skills and use some methods of Qin Hui and Zhao Gao to deal with him the most effective...

Still the same sentence, things are easy to talk about but not easy to handle. For a while, Fatty Lu really couldn't think of any way to deal with Yue Le, so he had to put this idea aside for the time being, picked up the wine glass and went to toast with a familiar official , such as Aobai, Bumbleshan, Huang Ji and Lin Tianqing.And these people were still saving face, and they all accepted the toast from Fatty Lu. As a bachelor, Bumbleshan also introduced the officials at the same table to Fatty Lu very affectionately—of course they are all the party members of Oboi, Fatty Lu They all saluted and toasted.But it's a pity that Fatty Lu's drinking capacity is a bit average. From morning until now, he just chewed a few dried dates and drank a few glasses of wine on an empty stomach. When he finally made a toast in front of Wu Yingxiong, Fatty Lu even stood up a little. Unsteady.

"Master, I am humbled to come to Beijing, and I am grateful for your care..." Holding the wine glass, Fatty Lu wobbled, and didn't pay attention when the wine was in his hand, he just kept saying auspicious words.When Wu Yingxiong saw him, he was naturally angry and funny. He got up and pushed Fatty Lu to the empty seat next to him, snatched the wine glass and shouted in a low voice: "If you can't drink, why don't you drink less? Get drunk here, that ugly But it’s a big loss. Alright, alright, I’ve accepted your wish, no need to respect, just sit here honestly for a while, sober up.”

"Yes, yes, I obey the orders." Jiu Zuixin understood, and Fatty Lu also knew that he was a little tall, so he sat down obediently, and asked in a low voice: "My lord, that is the University of Tuhaitu, can you introduce me?" for a while?"

"Over there, that big man sitting with Kong Sizhen." Wu Yingxiong pouted towards a table far away.Fatty Lu turned his drunken eyes to look, and saw that there was indeed a tall middle-aged man sitting beside Kong Sizhen, about the same age as Yue Le, with a gloomy face and raised eyebrows, giving people a very unapproachable feeling.

"No, I have to get to know my opponent." Fatty Lu muttered to himself, struggling to stand up.Next to him, Wu Yingxiong held Fatty Lu down again, and said in a low voice, "Don't go over, the one sitting on the other side of Kong Sizhen is Mo Luo, the new governor of Shanxi Province. Be careful not to make Ao Zhongtang jealous."

After Wu Yingxiong said this, Fatty Lu sat down obediently, and Wu Yingxiong continued in a low voice: "Besides, Mo Luo is the first Manchu governor since the founding of the Qing Dynasty. Although the Han Chinese governors of other provinces did not say anything, there is no one who does not hate him in their hearts. They are afraid that this will set a precedent, and there will be endless troubles in the future. Getting closer to him will not be good for our Pingxi Palace... .”

When mentioning this point, Fatty Lu suddenly remembered something, hurriedly asked in a low voice: "Your Majesty, didn't Ao Zhongtang and the others discriminate against Han officials? Why didn't Ao Zhongtang and the others have a Manchu governor before this?"

"Who said that Ao Zhongtang discriminated against Han officials?" Wu Yingxiong asked suspiciously: "For the appointment of Mo Luo as the governor of Shanxi, Ao Zhongtang and the emperor blush, saying that the Manchus will only lead troops and cannot rule the people, and send Manchus Being a local official will only deceive the people, and the appointment of a large number of Manchu officials may also lead to confrontation between Manchu and Han officials, which will cause endless troubles. If you firmly oppose this appointment, how can you discriminate against Han officials? Also, Ao Zhongtang tried his best to change the name of Tiantian , It is also to prevent the soldiers of the Eight Banners from forcibly occupying the land of the people, and admitting that the wasteland reclaimed by the refugees is legally owned, which has offended countless bannermen, and it is not bad to say that he discriminates against the Manchu officials?"

"Fuck, I was brainwashed by the mite again. After a long time, I changed my name to Tian because of Aobai..." Fatty Lu shook his head, and finally couldn't resist the drunkenness and drowsiness, and fell asleep snoring on the table...

………………

When Fatty Lu woke up, it was already dark, and at the same time, Fatty Lu returned to the bedroom he was renting in Wu Yingxiong's mansion, while Xiao Erlang, Fang Shiyu and others were vying to admire Fatty Lu from Xiaomazi. The cheated yellow jacket.Seeing that Fatty Lu woke up, Xiao Erlang quickly threw the yellow jacket to Fang Shiyu, rushed forward and complained: "Oh, I said, young master, why do you still drink so much when you have such a small capacity for alcohol? When you came back, you were so drunk that you almost passed out. The little ones are scared to death!"

"I won't drink anymore, I won't drink again." Fatty Lu put his arms around his head and groaned, swearing: "From now on, if I drink so much again, I will be raised by Xiao Mazi!"

"Xiao Mazi? Young master, who is Xiao Mazi?" Xiao Erlang was taken aback.

"Just casually, is there any cold tea? My throat is about to smoke." Fatty Lu waved his hand.Xiao Erlang agreed, and hurriedly brought a large pot of herbal tea that had been prepared earlier, and Fatty Lu quickly grabbed the cow to drink it. After drinking the large pot of herbal tea, Fatty Lu's thirst was relieved, so he groaned and asked: "I How did you come back? Does the prince have any orders?"

"Master, you were brought back by the guards in the four palaces. I heard that the emperor kindly sent the guards to bring you back." Xiao Erlang replied honestly: "My son has nothing to say to you, but I just let the little one take care of you." You guys take good care of you. By the way, in the evening, the two princes from Pingnan Palace and Jingnan Palace came to pay New Year greetings to the prince, and the prince sent someone to come and see you once, and when he saw that you were still drunk, he left again."

"Oops, they are here to discuss the important matter of salary negotiation, I have to go right away." Fatty Lu was startled, he struggled to jump off the kang, ignored the dissuasion of Xiao Erlang and others, quickly put on his clothes, and rolled and crawled He went out to find Wu Yingxiong.

When Fatty Lu found Wu Yingxiong, he was still one step too late, the brothers from the Shang family and the brothers from the Geng family had already paid their New Year greetings and left.Seeing that Fatty Lu came running with his hat tilted, and opened his mouth to ask about the salary, Wu Yingxiong was very satisfied, nodded and smiled and said: "It's okay, thanks to you scaring them today, they opened their hearts tonight and said A lot of sincere words, agreed to advance and retreat together in the court tomorrow, and try to get as much money as possible from the court."

"Your Majesty, be careful that they will turn against you." Fatty Lu warned: "These two guys are no more ambitious than the second prince of our Pingxi Palace, and they will do anything in order to overthrow their elder brother and grab the position of Majesty. "

"Of course I will be careful." Wu Yingxiong snorted coldly, and said with a smirk: "Even if they defected and suddenly turned against us and isolated our Pingxi Palace, I am not afraid! Our Pingxi Palace is not the only friends in the court."

"Really? Then you can rest assured of the lowly position." Fatty Lu also knew that Wu Sangui was willing to spend money on befriending courtiers, so he nodded in relief, and said, "Your Majesty, everything is ready, only Dongfeng is owed, the key depends on tomorrow. Although I am not qualified to accompany you into the palace to discuss salary tomorrow, I will definitely cheer for you outside the palace gate and wait for your good news."

"Okay." Wu Yingxiong nodded happily, and said: "This time, if you can fulfill your father's entrustment as you wish, you should make the first contribution, and this son will reward you in a letter to his father."

"Thank you for your cultivation." Fatty Lu saluted respectfully, and then said cautiously: "Master, I would like to ask you for a favor."

"Say, as long as I can do it, I will promise you." Wu Yingxiong agreed straight away.

"My son, let's talk about the humble job." Fatty Lu said: "After the salary discussion is over, the humble job wants to ask the son to free up some silver taels, use other people's reputation to buy a few shops in the capital, and hand them over to Yang Qilong's people. Reasonably, these shops will be of great use by October at the latest."

"Why do you buy a store?" Wu Yingxiong was taken aback.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for letting me keep it a secret for now." Fatty Lu said mysteriously: "However, what I can tell you is that if this plan of Benedict can succeed—not bragging, at most two years later, The military salaries of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces no longer have to be completely dependent on others, and the prince and the prince can also benefit greatly from it."

"Is there such a good thing?" Wu Yingxiong was a little surprised. He looked Fatty Lu up and down, and saw that Fatty Lu had a confident smile on his fat face. Then Wu Yingxiong replied with a smile: "Master Lu, you really make me see more and more clearly. Okay. , Listen to you, as soon as the salary negotiation is over tomorrow, I will set aside money and hand it over to Yang Qilong to take care of it, and buy a dozen or twenty shops for you to prepare."

"Thank you, my son." Fatty Lu was overjoyed, and hurriedly saluted and said: "Please rest assured, my humble job will not let you down. Your investment will definitely get ten times and dozens of times in return!"

"I believe you." Wu Yingxiong smiled, seeing Fatty Lu's hesitant expression, Wu Yingxiong laughed again: "Don't be so hesitant, do you want to ask your little Gege and Shang Zhixiao if they have gone back?"

Fatty Lu smirked and nodded, as an admission.Wu Yingxiong said with a smile: "You're lucky, Little Gege refuses to leave no matter what, and my princess is blown a little more by the wind on my pillow, so she won't let her go, so now you can go and give her away with confidence and courage." Greetings, Little Gege. ——You were carried back by the guards today, but she was quite frightened."

"Thank you, sir." Fatty Lu happily agreed, and hurriedly ran back to the backyard to find Shang Wanyi.

………………

The night passed quickly, and in the early morning of the next day, Fatty Lu, who had already slept enough yesterday, got up early, put on plain clothes, and led a large group of dog legs to accompany Wu Yingxiong to Zhengyangmen. Outside Yangmen, most of the civil and military officials from the previous dynasty were present.Brothers Shang Zhixiao and Geng Juzhong who also arrived at the palace at about the same time arrived at the same time. After meeting, Shang Zhixiao and Geng Jingzhong didn't speak, but nodded to Wu Yingxiong, showing some serious expressions.And the students in the six books of the Jiuqing monk's book over there also looked as if they were facing a formidable enemy, their expressions were dignified, revealing some extremely tense atmosphere.

At a quarter of the time difference, the gate of the palace opened, Wu Yingxiong, monk Zhixiao and others entered the palace and waited in the court room. Before leaving, Wu Yingxiong took another look at Fatty Lu. Fatty Lu hurriedly clasped his fists and bowed to Wu Yingxiong, who nodded slightly , and then stepped into the palace, although neither of the two said a word, but regardless of tension, expectation and mutual support, everything was already in silence.

At the right time, the sound of the court bell came from the palace, and the battle horn of San Francisco joining forces with the Qing court was sounded. But at this moment, Fatty Lu, whose heart was always in his throat, relaxed.As Wu Yingxiong's salary assistant, Lu Fatty has done his best. Basically, there is no other assistant who can do better than Lu Fatty. From the initial running to contact Shaanxi and Gansu, to making suggestions, to releasing smoke, and then to sacrificing his life to take risks, he went to the office in person. In front of Xiao Mazi, Fatty Lu has already done his best, just like an army commander. Fatty Lu has considered all kinds of details and arranged them perfectly. The next thing is to wait for the victory news.

"It's not easy." Leaning on the sedan chair, recalling the hard work and various adventures he had put in on this matter, Fatty Lu couldn't help raising his head, looking at the slightly whitish snowy sky, and sighed, "Really It's not easy."

"Lord Lu, what's there?" A bold voice suddenly came from the side.Fatty Lu turned his head to look, and found that the person talking to him was a bearded man with a burly figure, and there was a large group of soldiers behind him. He seemed to have seen it somewhere, but he couldn't remember it for a while.Seeing Fatty Lu's hesitant expression, the burly man smiled and said, "Lord Lu, you are such a noble person who forgets things too much. We just met in Tiren Pavilion yesterday, and Bumbleshan introduced me to you. My name is Mu. Lima is the sixth younger brother of Ao Zhongtang."

"Ah, it turned out to be General Murimamu, General Jingxi." Fatty Lu suddenly realized, and hurriedly saluted and apologized, "General Murima, I'm really sorry, I drank too much yesterday, so I didn't remember very clearly."

"I know, I know, you were the first one to get drunk yesterday, and I was very impressed." Murima laughed heartily, "But I'm not better than you. I scolded a bloody head, so the two of us can be regarded as having the same disease."

"Ashamed of being humble, ashamed." Fatty Lu had a fever on his face - he was drunk before even finishing two pots of wine, and then Fatty Lu asked curiously: "General Murima, why didn't you enter the palace?" Shang Dynasty?"

"I, General Jingxi, have a foreign position and have not held an official position in the capital, so I don't need to go to the court." Murima replied casually, "I sent my elder brother to the court, and I have to wait for him to leave the court to meet with him." go home together."

"It turns out that the general is laughing at me because of my lowly position and ignorance." Fatty Lu smirked, but he snorted coldly in his heart: "This old man Ao, I really don't know if he is loyal or stupid. It is impossible for him to let a good helper like Murima live idle in Beijing." I don’t want to find a way to squeeze him into a key department—if Xiao Mazi attacked Old Man Ao in history, if the admiral of the Nine Sects was not Wu Liuyi but Murima, Old Man Ao would die so badly?”

"It's nothing. If you want to blame it, you can blame my elder brother. He is too honest. I am afraid that people will say that he is nepotism and refuses to arrange a fat job for me." Everyone is very strange, asking me why I am not even qualified to go to court?"

Fatty Lu continued to smirk, while Murima said again: "Master Lu, you have a sedan chair, I have to find a place to avoid the snow. It's snowing again in this damn weather." After finishing speaking, Murima turned around and left.

"General Murima, please wait." Fatty Lu's heart suddenly moved, and he blurted out to stop Murima.

"What's the matter?" Murima turned back in doubt.

"It doesn't matter, if you change the history, you can change the history. Perhaps the track of history will develop in a better direction. If you miss this village, there will be no such store anymore." Fatty Lu gritted his teeth, squeezed out a smile on his fat face, and said : "General Murima, I'm taking the liberty, I want to find a place with you to avoid the snow, drink tea and talk a few words - I have a very wonderful story, I want to tell you."

"What story?" Murima was taken aback.

"It's a story about how a general with strong martial arts carelessly lost Jingzhou and was plotted by a group of young people." Fatty Lu replied with a smile: "I can guarantee it with a humble position. After hearing this, General Murima will definitely be enlightened."

(End of this chapter)