Story of Yanxi Palace: Red Seal Spring Star

On the afternoon when Yingluo saw Qian Fuli again, Yongqi was busy with Hu Cunzhu in the household department, and the yamen servant came to report that the military plane Lord Ali Gon had come.The two looked at each other, wondering why Ali Gon came here suddenly.

Just as he was thinking, Ali Gon had walked in, and Hu Cunzhu immediately bowed to salute.Ali Gun saw that Yongqi was wearing a grass-green [-]-character miscellaneous treasure-patterned silk horseshoe-sleeve dress, the neckline was inlaid with blue element satin edge, copper-plated gold-plated chiseled longevity buckle, and a navy blue purse and fire sickle belt hung around the waist. His features set off picturesquely, he was youthful and suave, and he had a kind of luxurious demeanor, so he knelt down to greet Yong Qi.

Yong Qi helped him up with a smile, and said: Your Excellency, please forgive me.Ali Gon stood up, but did not speak.Hu Cunzhu immediately said: "Fifth elder brother and my lord, please go ahead."Then he was going to go out the door.Ali Gun said: "Master Hu, don't leave in a hurry. I am here today to announce the decree by the emperor's order."

Both Yongqi and Hu Cunzhu were surprised, and they knelt down to accept the order.Ali Gun then took out the imperial decree from his arms and read it out, announcing that Hu Cunzhu was promoted to the right servant of the household department.From being a fifth-rank doctor to being a second-rank servant, including juniors, he has actually passed six ranks in a row, which is rare among Han officials.Yongqi was very happy. After Hu Cunzhu kowtowed to thank him, he accepted the imperial edict.

After the three of them sat in the chairs, Ali Gon smiled and said: "Master Hu, congratulations!"The emperor said that you should have been transferred to a middle-level official position and promoted to be a servant, but then you would have to leave the household department. All the adults in the household department disagreed. so many years.Hu Cunzhu hurriedly said: Thank you, Your Majesty!Thank you sir!Hu Cunzhu must work hard and never disappoint the grace of the Holy One.

Ali Gun said again: Master Jiang is promoted, Master Li just took office, and Fu Hengda has a lot of personnel. The emperor asked me to come to the Ministry of Households to see more. I have met Master Li just now. He said that Master Hu and elder brother are here. Then he came over by himself.The emperor also said that he was very satisfied that you taught the fifth elder brother to be meritorious.

The Master Li mentioned by Ali Gun is Li Yuanliang, the new Han Shangshu of the Ministry of Households, who was born in the Han Army with the Yellow Banner.Hu Cunzhu hurriedly said: "The emperor's words are serious, the fifth elder brother is smart and hardworking, and it is by no means the result of being dismissed from office."Yong Qi smiled at him and said: Master Hu deserves his name.Hu Cunzhu hurriedly stood up and said, "Thank you for your compliment, my lord. Hu is terrified."Seeing that the two of them were father-in-law and son-in-law, but they were so reserved and polite, Ali Gun thought it was funny, coughed, and Hu Cunzhu immediately said that he went down first.

Seeing Hu Cunzhu's back disappearing outside the door, Ali Gun turned his head and said to Yongqi: Congratulations brother!Elder brother gave birth to a precious son early!How is brother?Yong Qi smiled and said: Okay, thank you!Hello, my lord?Ali Gun hurriedly said: "Okay, thank you brother for asking."Yong Qi said: Sir, what do you want to say to Yong Qi?

Ali Gun said: "Slaves dare not."The servant recently went to the Changchun Garden to greet the Queen Mother and her old lady. Seeing her old man Antai, talking about the great news of the prince, the ancestor was very happy, and asked the servant about the prince. There is nothing wrong with it, working in the Ministry of War and household affairs, the achievements are outstanding, the emperor is very satisfied, and the ancestors are even more happy when they hear it.Yong Qi smiled and said: "Thank you, my lord, Yong Qi just went to Changchun Garden yesterday evening to greet Grandma Huang.

While talking, Zheng Ying came in from the outside, brought two bowls of tea, and said to Yong Qi with a smile: "My lord, this is what Mr. Hu ordered the servants outside just now."Yong Qi nodded with a smile, and said, "Zheng Ying, you can just stay here and take care of me. It's hot, so come play the fan."Zheng Ying hurriedly said: "Yes, the servant obeys."Then he started to turn the fan next to his seat.

Seeing that Zheng Ying was at the side, Ali Gun felt that it was difficult to speak, and Yong Qi said, "My lord, if you have something to say, you may as well say it bluntly. Zheng Ying is the king's confidant, so you don't need to worry about it."As he spoke, he smiled at Zheng Ying, who also smiled.Ali Gun then said: "My servant heard from the people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs that you like the small knife with a jade sheath before. If elder brother still needs it, I will ask the people from the Thirteen Lines to look at it again."

The small knife with a jade sheath that Ali Gun mentioned was the one he gave to Yibor last year. Unexpectedly, it was handled by Ali Gun. He was the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi for many years, and he was the father-in-law of the fourth elder brother. Now I am back in the military plane, but I have never had any contact with myself.So he smiled and said: "Thank you, my lord, the women in the palace of the sword master like it, but the king was recently given a Ryukyu waist sword by the emperor Ama."As he spoke, he signaled to Zheng Ying, Zheng Ying put down his fan, went to the table next to him and took a long knife and held it to Ali Gon with both hands.

Ali Gun saw that the knife was simple and unpretentious, the blade was flat and long, with a curvature, and the sheath was made of iron, wrapped with a yellow belt.The handle of the knife is also made of iron, coated with shark skin, and then wrapped with yellow tape to form a continuous diamond pattern, with a ring-shaped hand guard and embedded eyes.Pull|pull|take a look, the knife is hard and sharp, shining coldly.So he inserted the knife back, put it on the table, and praised: "Good knife, good knife!"The imperial gift from the emperor is really extraordinary!

Yongqi knew that this knife was a tribute item that Tie Pu brought back from the Ryukyu ship recently, and the emperor gave each of the two elder brothers a knife, so she smiled and said: "Huang Ama often tells us that carrying a saber with you is an ancestor's gift." Traditions cannot be forgotten.The fourth brother also got a hand from Huang Ama, haven't you seen the fourth brother recently?

Yong Qi naturally knew who Tie Pu was, because Concubine Rong told him, although he only met him when Baijiao performed in the palace that year.

Ali Gun also greeted Yongxuan after he returned to Beijing, but he hadn’t seen Yongxuan for a long time, especially now that the smuggling case is heavily involved with the Lifan Court, and he is the investigator and chief judge, it is even more difficult to meet Yongxuan. Xuan, when he went to Changchun Garden, the queen mother also asked about the case, and said: What the prince said was that Prince Yi was reprimanded by the emperor for not carrying a knife.It's just that the servant has been busy recently, so he didn't go to say hello to the fourth elder brother.

Yong Qi said: "I haven't seen fourth brother for a long time, I hope the recent incidents don't get him involved."Ali Gun thought to himself that it was inconvenient to talk about the smuggling case, so he stood up and said, "My lord, this slave has to go back to the palace to report to the emperor, so I will leave first. My lord, take care, and don't let the queen mother worry about her."Yong Qi also stood up, and said: Sir, go slowly, Zheng Ying, on behalf of this king, I will see you off.Zheng Ying hurriedly responded with a smile, and led Ali Gun out.

That night, when Yongqi returned home, she told Hu Jiajia the good news. Hu Jiajia was very excited and said, "Thank you brother!Yongqi said: "It's your father who is hardworking and capable, and has made contributions to the court, not me."Zheng Ying pursed her lips and smiled.Hu Jiajia stopped talking.Later, after she fell asleep, she told Yong Qi about this again, saying that she would thank Fifth Elder Brother on behalf of her family, but Yong Qi just put her arms around her and smiled and said: You should thank your father for the good daughter.

A few days later, Prince Rong's Mansion received a set of four western silver pots with thirteen rows of bamboo patterns from Ali Gon, saying that they were for Prince Rong Fujin to enjoy.He Zhu was surprised that Ali Gun was the fourth elder brother's former father-in-law and had never been in contact with Prince Rong's mansion. He asked Yongqi if he should accept it. Yongqi said it was not an expensive gift and asked her to accept it.Ali Gon's throwing stones to ask for directions was accepted, and he was overjoyed.

Not to mention that Yongxuan is now working in the Lifan Court, he is involved, and Yongxuan has a close relationship with the prince, and he does not want to have any further contact with the former son-in-law. What he said to the prince during the Chinese New Year left him with lingering fears, and the queen mother said Yes, tell him to listen to the emperor... Hu Cunzhu, a Han Chinese, was promoted to be a servant and a court official, but the father of one of Yongqi's concubines, don't you understand what the emperor means?

The spirit in heaven of my daughter Mingxiu, if you blame him, blame him.Niu Hulu's family was the founding hero of the Qing Dynasty, and his grandfather Ye Bilong was one of the four ministers of Gu Ming who was left alone by the ancestors. He was a close relative of the Queen Mother in this dynasty. If he said he would kill him, he was also a member of the army now, if he was not careful, his whole family would still lose his head, and he would never intentionally frame and trample the fourth elder brother, it was the utmost benevolence.

As the saying goes: Companion to a king is like companion to a tiger, not to mention the unpredictable thoughts and means of this prosperous leader on the dragon chair.Taking charge of major smuggling cases made him understand more and experience more deeply.Fortunately, Fu Heng is very different from the emperor. As long as he asks for advice, he will give some advice. Facts have proved that the emperor was satisfied afterwards. It can be seen that Fu Heng meant the holy will, so he was assigned to supervise the household department. It is also Fu Heng's recommendation.

Later, I will send something to the concubine of the fifth elder brother, one is the daughter of the minister of the Ministry of War, and the other is the daughter of the minister of the household department. You have to think about it carefully, don't do it too much, and make the two elder brothers suspicious. ...

Er Jinger turned out to be the principal culprit in the smuggling case of the Lifan Court. The queen and Hongzhou were very surprised. He was earlier than Fude and had always been close to Hongzhou. He was secretly involved in such a big case with Chou Da, a member of the Foreign Affairs Bureau. Although Yongxuan Hong Zhou was not involved in the case, it was too late for Hong Zhou to separate himself from him at this time.

Wu Deya knew it clearly this time, because Earl often sent tonics and skins to Hongzhou Mansion before. He only said that he taught his family to buy the skins at a high price at the foreign hall and two temple fairs, but his grade was not enough. It cannot be taken, so it is dedicated to honor the prince and other princes.It is not a secret that high-grade fox fur can be bought in the market, but there is no such strict tribute as mink fur, let alone sable fur, and what he gave away was nothing more than otter fur, squirrel fur and fox fur clothing, etc. It was not just for the He Prince's Mansion, Moreover, he was only the head of the official department, and his official rank was not high, so neither the husband nor wife cared about it.

So after he was sent to prison suddenly, Hong Zhou and his wife were very anxious and restless.Hongzhou greeted the steward under the Ministry of Punishment, and instead of embarrassing him in prison, he wrote to the queen to discuss with her.Nala's reply only wrote four words: "abandon the pawn and protect the horse".Wu Deya asked Hongzhou what this meant, and Hongzhou said: A dead person can no longer speak.Wu Deya was taken aback, and asked: She wants the prince to kill Earl's forehead secretly?Hiroshi nodded.Wu Deya sighed and said: I know, she is for the fourth elder brother.She was afraid that Earl would be frightened by the forehead, so she would talk about the prince indiscriminately, and even implicate the fourth elder brother.But Earl has always been respectful to the prince, do you really have the heart to do this?

Hong Zhou didn't answer, Wu Deya said: If the prince does this, what will those people who are close to the prince think?Won't they be chilled?The empress wants to protect the fourth elder brother, but doesn't she think about the prince?Hong Zhou knew that Nala was for him and her.Earl was not only close to him, but also part of the queen's party, but the outside world didn't know that Hong Zhou and the queen were actually closely related, and the queen lived in the deep palace, so the people who attached to her were more mysterious and difficult to find out.Many people step on two boats, thinking that both sides have the same source, and Earl's forehead is no exception.If Earle leaks the wind through his forehead and mouth, the smuggling case is a trivial matter, and there is no evidence to investigate. Hong Zhou will only be reprimanded by the emperor. If many officials who are attached to Hong Zhou and secretly attached to the queen are exposed, it will be a catastrophe. .

So he comforted Wu Deya and said: "If she said that, I may not necessarily follow through. Don't worry, I will think about it carefully."Wu Deya nodded and said: "My lord, the concubine still said the same thing, we have nothing, you must not be confused."Hong Zhou smiled and said: You are right, Deya, I know you are good to me, I will not ignore you and the children.Wu Deya felt a little relieved, and said: "My lord, as long as you are safe, Er Niang, I can't be sorry for Er Niang's entrustment."There were tears in Hong Zhou's eyes, and he murmured: Er Niang...

The elder brothers of Tuoya, a military nobleman in Jingren Palace, and the concubine elder brothers were originally born in yin. The old man kept his official position, and his younger sister became a nobleman. The whole family is kind and virtuous, and they value and thank her, the youngest concubine daughter. I feel that being a princess is very worthwhile.The empress took over the affairs of the six palaces, she was naturally angry, she was respectful at the morning meeting, but she had various calculations in her mind.

As soon as the smuggling case came out, she gloated, and the fourth elder brother was involved in the big case again. No matter whether he really had something to tell the truth, with the emperor's temperament, he would never be able to please the emperor.Every time the emperor came to her place, she no longer talked about her own family affairs to secretly target the fourth elder brother. She only used some stories to joke with the emperor, and casually mentioned things like "I often walk by the river, how can I not get my feet wet?" By insinuation, she was secretly pleased when she saw the emperor often had a bad face.

I heard that Yiboer was pregnant with twins, and knowing that the Empress Dowager was looking forward to a great-grandson, she often said in front of Concubine Rong that it must be a boy, and secretly advised Concubine Shen not to get too close with the queen, but to see clearly the situation in the palace. The situation, who is the emperor facing?Because Wei Mei entered the imperial concubine, there were only three concubines left. In May, Qi Muge became the concubine Ying.When she was made a concubine, the emperor rewarded her with an emerald ganoderma lucidum jade, a gilded bronze juvenile bell made in England, and a penglai fairyland bonsai inlaid with malachite jewels, all of which were very luxurious and magnificent.She got close to Concubine Qing because of the death of her fourteenth elder brother, and she naturally listened to Toya.Concubine Shen is kind and has no intention of competing for favor, but she never said these things that Toya said in front of the queen.And Nala had already ordered Yuan Chunwang to prescribe medicine to Tuoya, knowing that she would never have a child and it would be difficult for her to advance, so she didn't take it to heart.

The Duo Luo family was completely alienated from the prince, not only because Rong Rong did not go out with Wu Deya to socialize, but also because Hong Zhou saw that although Duo Luo was the emperor's close servant, he didn't know the emperor's thoughts. The heart of attachment, the emperor's purge of the eunuchs of the White Lotus Sect and Yu Minzhong's plan to enter the military plane were two major events that he had never known before.Discussing with the queen, they felt that they should not get too close with him, lest the news be misunderstood. Instead, the emperor started from him to reveal the secrets of the two of them enveloping and controlling many courtiers, so Hongzhou only made peace with Doro on the surface. It was the same as before, but he no longer called him to meet in private.

The emperor and Duo Luojun and his subjects were still the same. Doro didn't ask anything, and the emperor didn't say anything. It was just a transactional exchange between the master and the slave.Gu Qin's matter is the emperor's absolute privacy. Doro understands Yingluo's painstaking efforts to make the emperor trust him, and the emperor needs to bring someone to the Yujing Garden. Although the Yujing Garden is safe, the emperor must be escorted back to the palace. There are better people who are both competent and reliable than him.

After getting closer to the emperor, Doro found that Li Yu and Concubine Rong were very close, but he was still not far from Concubine Rong. He was different from Li Yu. He had to avoid suspicion with concubines and concubines. , keep a distance from all kinds of men, not to mention the guards, even the fifth elder brother, they don't summon him like the queen, give him rewards, and hardly even talk to him. In fact, he and she inevitably often Face to face, he understood that it was because of the emperor that she didn't want to burden other people, and he understood what Yingluo said to Concubine Rong in Changchun Pharmacy that day.

After Yingluo and his wife came back from the west, Rongrong let go of her worries about Doro. She knew about Gu Qin's affairs, and because Doro sometimes stayed overnight in Yujing Garden to escort her, she was also very grateful and admired Sister Nalan. Luo felt that the harem was kept in the dark.

At this year's Silkworm Prosperity Ceremony, she attended as a first-class married woman, and finally saw all the concubines, the empress is so virtuous, and the concubine Rong is so beautiful. How could the emperor of the courtyard accept a small play, Duo Luo didn't say anything.She came from a great family, and she was an elegant lady. The emperor's secrets were not something glorious, and Yingluo didn't mention it, so she didn't ask about it.That day when Yingluo was wearing a yellow sash emerald bead, she also thought it was a gift from the queen, and she knew that Sister Nalan and the emperor would never have anything. sister-in-law.

The author has something to say:

[Tangguan] This is a popular saying, not an official name, but there are many articles in it.After Yongzheng ascended the throne, he resumed the position of "Minister of Management" in the early Qing Dynasty to control the foreign court.He often placed his confidantes at the top of the inner court in certain outer court institutions—mainly the highest administrative positions in the six ministries, that is, the [Minister of Management].A department, such as the Ministry of Households or the Academy of Lifan, is thus [actually] divided into two levels.The low-level administrative department, that is, the [clearance department], is located at the bottom of the outer court, and above them are the officials of the ministry.The hall officials include one Minister of Management; one Shangshu, one Manchu and one Han Dynasty;Although the six ministries belonged to the outer dynasties, the emperor was usually very familiar with the officials of the ministries, and these people often worked in the inner court.

In the Qianlong Dynasty, the emperor often no longer appointed ministers of management, but directly appointed ministers of military affairs as ministers to simplify the top two levels.For example, Wang Youdun used to be the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, Liu Tongxun was the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, etc., which have been mentioned in the novel, and Fu Heng was originally the Minister of the Ministry of Households.The ministers of various ministries are generally appointed by the emperor's cronies/confidants, such as Suo Chuoluo's father Guanbao and uncle Debao.The ranks in the Qingli Department are Langzhong, Yuanwailang, chief and lower-level officials.In history, Li Yuanliang was promoted to Han Shangshu in the 24th year of Qianlong.

Therefore, when Hu Cunzhu in the novel is promoted to be a minister, he becomes a hall official and is eligible to work in the inner court, such as being called into the military aircraft office or the South Study Room to be close to the emperor.This is the real qualitative leap.The officials that the emperor knew were basically hall officials.So both Ali Gun and Hu Jiajia understand the significance of this promotion very well.Ali Gun was called the supervisor of the household department, which meant that he was placed in the position of the minister in charge of household affairs, above the minister of the household department, and he was the minister of military aircraft.Based on the concept of a hall official, it should be easy to understand that the general's machine is called Zhongtang.

【Guangzhou Shisanhang】Guangzhou Shisanhang is a dental firm specializing in foreign trade in the Qing Dynasty, and it is a monopoly agency designated by the Qing government to specialize in foreign trade.During the period of "one-port trade", the development of the "Thirteen Banks" reached its peak and became the "Tianzi Nanku", which had direct trade relations with major countries in Asia, Europe and the United States.Its trading objects include three parts: foreign countries, Hong Kong and Hainan. Those who operate overseas trade are called Hainan trips.In the 23rd year of Kangxi (1684), Kangxi approved foreign businessmen to do business in the four ports of Guangdong Customs (Guangzhou), Fujian Customs (Xiamen Fuzhou), Zhejiang Customs (Ningbo), and Jianghai Customs (Songjiang). There are many merchants, but few merchants. In 1686, foreign merchants were allowed to live and do business in a block at the mouth of the Pearl River in Guangzhou.

In the 22nd year of Qianlong (1757), the Qing government ordered the blockade of the country's foreign ports, only keeping the Pearl River and Guangdong Customs area in Guangzhou as a foreign trade port (locking the country), and not doing business in other parts of China.The foreign firms in Guangzhou are concentrated in the Shisanhang District, about [-] feet away from the Pearl River.Businessmen from Citigroup (United States), Red Hair Country (UK), Double Eagle Country (Austrian Empire), Single Eagle Country (Prussia), Yellow Flag Country (Denmark), France, Sweden, Portugal and other countries set up a foreign bank in Guangzhou.In addition to foreign merchants and Shisanhang, there are also government-run commercial firms in Shisanyanghang District.

With the promulgation of Emperor Qianlong's enactment on foreign trade with only one port in Guangdong Customs, the foreign trade of the Qing Dynasty was locked in the Thirteen Banks in Guangzhou.The Thirteen Banks Port, located on the edge of the Pearl River, gathers foreign ships, and almost all major countries and regions in Asia, Europe, and America have had direct trade relations with the Thirteen Banks.There are global trade routes leading to Europe, Latin America, South Asia, East Asia and Oceania, and it is the only surviving Maritime Silk Road under the Qing government's closed-door policy.The merchants of the Thirteen Banks are imperial merchants, and most of the princes in the Qing Dynasty had contacts with the Thirteen Banks.Thirteen merchants rose from the privilege of monopolizing foreign trade, with outstanding economic strength, and became a merchant group that stood side by side with the Lianghuai salt merchants and Shanxi Shanxi merchants in the Qing Dynasty. It was the wealthiest merchant group in China before modern times.

Thirteen Hongshang is a commercial organization with the privilege of monopolizing Sino-foreign trade, it is also an intermediary between the Qing government and foreign businessmen, and it also has diplomatic responsibilities.The rulers of the Qing Dynasty granted foreign trade privileges to merchants, but they also obtained more wealth from them. Every year, the governors of Guangdong and Guangxi, the governors of Guangdong and the supervisors of Guangdong Customs donated various jewelry treasures, such as clocks, vases, enamel utensils, carved ivory utensils, and sundials. And so on, "July ordered the foreign firm to purchase objects and compensate the value", and finally the thirteen banks paid in cash.There are also a lot of military expenses. For example, in the 53rd year of Qianlong (1788), the Qing court suppressed Lin Shuangwen's uprising in Taiwan and ordered merchants to donate 30 taels.