Emperor Qianlong: the beginning of his glory

Chapter 16

Qianlong settled down with Yun, as if he had gone from a heart disease, and slept soundly in Li Wei's study at night.He has the habit of getting up early, and the next day he gets up when the cock crows twice, and plays Buku in front of the study for a while. Aphorisms", "Poems of a Thousand Families", and "Thousand-Character Essays" are both angry and funny.Looking at it, Li Wei has already come in, and greeted Qianer: "Master got up early. The slave didn't get a good book here, and missed the master's morning class."

"The book is not a bad book, it's too shallow." Qianlong said with a smile, "Fu Heng and Liu Tongxun are all up? How do we go? Are you strong enough?" Autumn and winter, it's not a problem at this time." After speaking, Fu Heng and Liu Tongxun had come over and invited Ann, but they both stood aside.Li Wei went on to say: "Since they are in micro-services, such a group of people walk around without a name. They will definitely not succeed. They should still dress up as merchants who go to Xinyang Mansion to sell tea. Naturally, you are the owner, Fu Heng is the housekeeper, and Tong Xun and slaves are Long-term follower. A few guys lead horses and carry some Beijing goods. They are all acted as guards. There must be sharpened front and back and broken backs, dressed as beggars. A secret signal can come to escort. Ten miles behind us, I will be good at hunting camps Sixty lieutenants were dispatched to follow them from a distance. Shengjia was safe so that nothing would be lost. On the road, there was not enough food and tea, and the slave girl Tweety - the master recognized her - asked her to follow, serve as a servant, and serve tea and water Stronger than a man."

"Okay, I'll take care of my family!" Qianlong was very happy, "That's it. Get ready! Where's the outfit?" Li Wei waved at the door, and the two family members came in with a large stack of clothes, everyone laughed Wear and change.As soon as everything was tidied up, Li Wei's wife, Cui'er, had already come in, quickly kowtowed to Qianlong a few times, stood up and gave two blessings to Fu Heng and Liu Tongxun in a steady manner.She was ordered by the first grade, and Liu Tongxun hurriedly bowed to return the gift.Cui'er laughed and said: "I haven't seen Master for seven or eight years. Last time I went to the palace to greet Lafayette. When I came out, I saw Master entering the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and took a look from a distance. When we left Beijing, Master was only so tall. Now, ah... tsk tsk... look at my master's body, this appearance, this aura of wealth—the more I look at it, the more I like it—why did the old master just go as soon as he said it?" Women are born to cry, and tears say just come.Li Wei reprimanded from the sidelines: "It's okay, it's okay. I told you to see the master, and I just kept nagging. It's a great day to start, why are you crying?"

Qianlong smiled and said: "I like being so forthright. The Li family, let's talk on the way if you have something to say—let's go." "Wait a moment—why hasn't Blind Wu arrived yet?"

"Here we are!" Someone suddenly answered from outside the door, and a middle-aged black man stepped in, wearing a Hanyang scarf around his head, the black robe with a slightly open neckline, revealing a row of black buttons on the double-breasted coat, and a pair of fast boots on his feet. .He looked very heroic, but his left eye was blind.Blind Wu bowed to Li Wei at the door and said, "I arrived at the third watch last night, and I slept on the beam under the corridor of this study." Then he took a step forward, knelt down in front of Qianlong and saluted, but said in his mouth: "Little Long live the master!" Li Wei's mansion was densely covered with guards and soldiers last night, and this person was able to sneak in, and slept outside the emperor's residence for two hours without being noticed, Liu Tongxun was extremely terrified.

Seeing Qianlong's surprised face, Li Wei hurriedly said: "This is the snitch I subdued in the south of the Yangtze River, and he became my fast catcher. It wasn't the Qin case, and I never used him. When I captured Gan Fengchi and went to Gan's house alone, I Bring him one." Gan Fengchi is a well-known thief in the south of the Yangtze River, as famous as Shandong Dou Erdun and Shengtie Buddha, etc. Qianlong looked at Wu Xiazi and asked: "Which martial arts master is your master?" Wu blind man kowtowed repeatedly, Said: "It's Taoist Master Qingfeng of Zixiao Temple in Zhongnan Mountain. The master passed away early, and the younger one was cultivated by the Taoist master Gu Yue. He didn't dare to deceive the king. When he was young, he avenged his father and killed someone. Later, he came out to enter the world. He also killed people. Later, he was captured by Mr. Li in Nanjing, because he never picked flowers, and those who were killed were all guilty, so he was released and worked with Mr. Li."

"He didn't know that he was driving, but he was secretly protecting him. He was called just in case." Li Wei said with a smile, "People from the underworld in Zhili, Shandong, Henan, and Jiangnan all bought into his account." Qianlong then Asked: "Since returning to justice, have you committed crimes or not?" Blind Wu said with a smile: "I have an appointment with Mr. Li, and the first thing is to do good and not evil, and do things without committing crimes."

Qianlong nodded and said: "You are a famous arrester in Shandong, and you are also considered an official. If you are blessed to see me, it is fate. I will reward you as the third-class guard of the Qianqing Gate, and walk in front of the emperor with a knife." Blind Wu was still in a daze, Li Wei He shouted at the side: "Don't you hurry up and thank you?"

"Thank you!" Blind Wu hurriedly bent down to salute.

Qianlong and his party left Beijing on the same day and headed south.After passing Handan Road and entering Zhangde Prefecture, it is considered to have entered Henan.It was the beginning of May, and the weather was getting hotter.The crops by the roadside are sparsely grown.Seen from a distance, it looks like "wheat waves undulating", but when you look closely, you will shake your head. The wheat stalks are as thin as incense sticks. Most of the wheat ears are as big as the head of a medium-sized brush. Bigger.From the road to the field, Qianlong rubbed the ears into large, medium and small ones and counted them in his palm. On average, there were only fifteen or six ears per ear, and he couldn't help shaking his head in secret surprise.Just stop and go like this, and when we arrived at Taikang City, it was already the Dragon Boat Festival in May.

Taikang is a famous city in the east of Henan Province, with complete flood and drought wharves, and is an important thoroughfare for Shandong, Henan and Anhui.Dismounting in the north of Taikang City that night, the guard at the front station came to report: "...I can't rent an inn, only Yao's old shop has a more spacious house, and people have already lived in it. We rented the main house, and the guests in the side yard, the boss refused. Throw out."

"The boss is right." Qianlong said, "Why should we drive him away?" Then he ordered, "Stay in Yao's old shop."

They are big customers, they spend a lot of money, and they place a lot of fixed money.The owner of the store took a dozen young men to pull animals, carry luggage, cook food with a fire, and waited on them for dinner. He also boiled a large bucket of hot water and sent them to each room one by one. It was already dark.Qianlong rested in the east room for a while, and had no books to read, so he casually half-lyed on the quilt and called the three courtiers in the upper room.Li Wei and the others filed in one by one. Qianlong smiled and said, "It's been a peaceful journey. If I had known this, I would have brought Fu Heng out alone."

"Boss," Liu Tongxun said with a slight bow, "Be careful not to overstep, it's better to have nothing to do." Qianlong rested his head on his hands, stared at the ceiling for a long time, and asked, "Your journey, how is the people in Henan?" what?"

Li Wei said: "I see two things: one is 'poor', and the other is public security." Fu Heng said: "Poor, public security will not be good, and what you said is contradictory. I think the villages along this road are sparsely populated. , Some people still close their doors. I heard that the whole family has gone out to escape the famine. What can’t be done under the hunger and cold?” Liu Tongxun said with a smile: “Master’s tour this time is a ‘micro-service’. There are clearers in the front and guards in the back. , It’s still very eye-catching. Youjie’s fast catcher has such a great reputation in the green forest. If he doesn’t show up, is he going to inform all the “heroes” not to commit crimes at this time?” Li Wei couldn’t help laughing: “This Maybe it is. But I am responsible for the safety of the master. The master came out to check on the situation of the officials and the people, not to catch thieves. It is my purpose to come out safely and go back safely."

"It's good to have this purpose, but this way, we won't see the real situation of law and order." Qianlong sighed softly, and said, "It seems that the poverty here is really chilling. Wang Shijun is the governor, and Henan has a good harvest every year. Now it is Sun Guoxi, so naturally he has to report a "best harvest". Otherwise, the Ministry of Officials will give him a "mediocre performance". I thought it would be easier to change from leniency to lenient. It seems that Not exactly." After saying that, he got off the kang, took off his shoes and walked out of the room.The man in charge of carrying water in the front store had already seen it, and hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Guest officer, what do you want?" Qianlong looked at the densely packed stars in the sky, and said with a smile, "It's too hot in the room, so come out to let the air in. I just heard Someone was crying in the east courtyard, like a woman's cry—what was it for?"

The guy was in his early twenties.Under the starlight, he looks delicate and smart.Hearing Qianlong's question, he sighed and said, "It's a mother and daughter from Hemiao Town, North Yellow River. This spring, the mother and daughter were so hungry that they couldn't stand it, so they sold the young crops of the owner. Seeing that the wheat was about to be harvested, she The head of the family went to the south of the Yangtze River to escape the debt before they came back. The landlord found them just now and forced them to go back. I just stopped them. Tell them to talk about it tomorrow. This dark and howling ghost is disturbing you. !" After hearing this, Qianlong was silent, turned around and went out the second door.The three courtiers heard clearly in the upper room and exchanged glances with each other. Liu Tongxun said: "It's okay, I'll follow along and take care of the guards." That's all.

The houses in the east courtyard of Yao’s old shop are very low, with one room next to another, and there are more than 20 rooms lined up in sequence.Each room is lit with sesame oil lamps, flickering like will-o’-the-wisps.In some rooms, guests were gathering to gamble, shouting and shouting at the top of their voices; others were drinking alone in the room, with the doors wide open.There were also a few fat people sitting naked under the acacia tree in the middle of the courtyard, chatting their teeth.Qianlong settled down for a while, and then he saw two people squatting under the eaves in the northeast corner, vaguely female, so he walked over slowly, leaned down and asked, "You were the ones crying just now?"

"..."

The two women squirmed, but said nothing.Qianlong saw that the older one was about 40 years old, and the younger one had a big braid, but he looked about seventeen or eighteen years old.He just couldn't see his face clearly, so he asked again: "How much do you owe him?"

"15 taels." The mother looked up at Qianlong, sighed, and said nothing.Qianlong wanted to ask again, and a person in the room shouted: "Don't listen to her fart!" Following the voice, a thin old man in his 50s came out, pointed at the older woman and said: "Yongzheng ten years, she lent me Seven taels of silver, plus three taels of interest, isn’t that high? You sold the young crops in my field and got another 15 taels, you should have paid me back 38 taels with interest!” He spoke in a crisp manner as if trying to turn an abacus. Spit spattered again, "Nephew and daughter-in-law, I am also a big family. People eat and chew on animals, so you dare to sell the young crops privately and walk away! Three or four long-term workers have been looking for you all over the world! You are still the door! It came out of the head! Why did you become a shrew once you were defeated!"

The girl squatting next to her suddenly raised her head: "Master Seventeen, there is sky above and land below! How much silver did you take when my grandfather was ransacked? You were still a tenant of my family, and you didn't rely on this money to make money. What?" Qianlong's heart sank when he heard this: it turns out that the mother and daughter are descendants of officials and eunuchs, who were brought down by ransacking their homes.Just after asking, "What kind of official is your grandfather?" The woman said: "Don't ask, I worry about asking, and insulting no one!" Then she said to the skinny old man: "The child's family has no barriers, seventeen Uncle, don’t worry about it... To be honest, your nephew took the money and went to Beijing for a trial... Wait for him to come back..."

"When he comes back, he will still be poor, filial and honest!" The seventeenth uncle sneered, "Don't think that the ancestral home of the Wang family's ancestors has been lost to your Zhenzhong family. Now that we have donated the Taoist platform from Zhenfa, we have already filled the vacancy, which is better than yours back then. Not much worse! Just like Wang Zhenzhong, with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks, he will never make a fortune in his life! Have you passed the exam for four times? It’s just a sub-list, so let’s call you Uncle Seventeen to look at it? He really won, Seventeen Grandpa crawls backwards and walks, for you to see!"

Things are clear.Hearing these harsh words like a knife, Qianlong really wanted to slap him and slap the old man to death!He touched his sleeves, but he didn't bring any money, so Qianlong stomped his feet and turned around to leave.

"Master, don't be angry," Liu Tongxun followed Qianlong back to the upper room, persuading him, "There are many such things in the world. To be fair, this woman is the one who lost the truth." Li Wei and Fu Heng saw Qianlong's face gloomy He didn't dare to show his breath, and stood aside with his hands down.Qianlong turned to Li Wei and said, "Go over and give 500 taels of silver to the mother and daughter!"

Li Wei promised to turn around and leave, but Fu Heng stopped and said to Qianlong: "Master, how much gossip will we have to invite when we give her so much money? I will let the servant take care of the magistrate and finish it." Li Wei sighed , Said: "This is all Tian Wenjing's sin here. How about it, I will go back to Beijing and write a letter to the county magistrate here, asking him to bring some money to help Wang Zhenzhong's family." Qianlong was speechless, so he ordered them to retreat. .He is also really tired.

Qianlong took out a copy of "Langhuan Suoji", flipped through it casually on the bed, and gradually fell asleep.Suddenly there was a sound of iron knocking from outside the shop.Qianlong shouted loudly: "Guards, guards! Hurry up!"... He sat up while talking.

The three courtiers waiting outside heard Qianlong shouting and rushed in. Li Wei asked: "Your Majesty, what are you..." "It's nothing, the nightmare is here..." Qianlong smiled self-consciously, "What are you doing outside? The blacksmith It’s like a shop, it’s so noisy!” Liu Tongxun said quickly, “Slave, go and have a look.” Qianlong waved his hand and said, “We’re leaving, pay the bill and ask them to prepare the horses and luggage.”

Liu Tongxun agreed to come out, and went to the facade to see that there were onlookers on the third floor and the third floor outside the store entrance. The boss and a few guys surrounded a monk by the counter, as if they were begging for mercy.When Liu Tongxun looked at the monk, he was a head taller than ordinary people, his face was as black as bronze, his forehead, cheekbones, and nose were all higher than ordinary people, and his tense muscles burst out. The hammer struck the iron fish, making a deafening noise.Liu Tongxun was horrified when he saw that the hammer weighed dozens of catties.Looking at the iron fish again, I was even more surprised, it was the size of a No. 300 Castanopsis chinensis and weighed more than [-] catties!Liu Tongxun saw that the boss was just bowing to the monk, and he didn't know what to ask for, so he stepped forward and pulled a clerk aside, and asked loudly, "What's going on?"

"Almsgiving!"

The man stared at the monk angrily, gritted his teeth, and replied, "It costs 30 taels of silver for a mouthful. If you ask if you can get a little less, it will immediately increase to [-] taels!" !"

The knocking stopped suddenly.The monk looked at the waiter with a frightening look, and asked, "Amitabha! What did you just say, young man?"

"We are so big, and we only earn eight or ninety taels a year. We give it to you, and we drink the northwest wind?" The little guy stared at the tall monk fiercely: "I just scolded you, Japan Your mother's bald donkey, you bully people! There is no one like you for begging, pig iron Buddha, do you understand?" At this time Qianlong had come out from the backyard, and several guards looked at the situation and pretended to be tenants in the inner courtyard. Lively, squeezing Qianlong in the middle.Li Wei heard that this is the famous pig iron Buddha in Jianghu. He knew that he met a strong opponent today, but he didn't know whether he came for Qianlong or this shop. Come.

The shop owner's face was pale, and he just begged bitterly: "Master... I really can't afford this much. Anyway, the master held his hands high, and we will pass." Knowing your family background, you are unwilling to give up, but you are unwilling to transcend yourself. I will not do anything, just knock this iron fish to pieces here!" At this moment, there was a roar of people outside, and someone shouted: "Beat this black bald man to death! Donkey!" The monk ignored him.The two men next to the boss got impatient, and moved forward to move the iron fish on the counter, and tugged hard, the iron fish moved, and the pig iron Buddha pressed his hand, and the iron teeth under the iron fish's stomach were already embedded in the wood.

"Shopkeeper Yao, don't speak nice words to him!" The guy standing next to Liu Tongxun was furious, stepped forward and pushed the shopkeeper past him, and said, "He's not chasing you, he's looking for something about me—Pig Tie Buddha, junior! Xiao Yuer offended you today!" Then he picked up the feather duster on the cabinet and waved it lightly, the huge iron fish fell to the ground like dust, and with a "bang", several bricks were cracked!
(End of this chapter)