I'm watching the gate in the jail

Chen Yue sat on a bench facing the stairs, with his hands on his knees, his dark eyes turned from bottom to top, and the corners of his mouth were pursed.

This Jinshi in the first year of Tianshun is only in his 40s this year.Because he leads troops all the year round, he is tall and strong, and his appearance can be considered handsome, but his eyes always make people think of vultures that feed on carrion on the grassland, which makes people shudder.

One after another, merchants went downstairs with the guide vouchers, and were stopped by the soldiers standing behind Chen Yue for inspection. Regardless of whether there was any problem, all of them were dragged to the yard outside.

At this time, it was nearly late at night, and snowflakes were gradually falling in the sky. The people who came downstairs in single clothes were shivering in the yard, crying for their parents and mothers.

Chen Yue took the hot tea from shopkeeper Wang, held the tea bowl in one hand, raised his chin and asked, "Why, those people from the capital are still not coming down? Shopkeeper, didn't you go up and inform them? "

Just as Wang Qianhu was about to explain a few words, he heard a laugh from the corner of the stairs.

A dark red Xichang gorgeous official uniform has a bullfighting pattern across the shoulders, and the skirt reveals layers of panniers when turning. Wang Zhizu stepped on a pair of soap-soled flying fish pattern official boots, and walked down slowly. .

The youngest admiral of the Ming Dynasty held on to the railing of the stairs with one hand, looked at the messy hall below, and smiled disdainfully at Chen Yue, "What a majestic official."

"Father."

Seeing the people coming down wearing eunuch costumes, Chen Yue's eyes lit up, and he hurried forward to salute.

"Censor Chen Yue, the right deputy governor of Liaodong, pays homage to Eunuch Wang."

"You recognize me?"

Wang Zhi narrowed his eyes.

"With such a demeanor, I don't think about it except Dugong Wang."

Chen Yue said.

At first, he was worried that the information from Beijing was wrong, why the dignified owner of the West Factory suddenly appeared in the frontier.Now it seems that I wrongly blamed Shang Gonggong.

It turned out that since Shang Ming made contributions in Donghuamen, his official career has been prosperous all the way, and he finally replaced the disheartened Wynn and became the governor of Dongchang.

He knew that he had been promoted too fast, and his foundation was not as stable as that of Huai En, Qin Chang, and Zhang Min, who grew up with His Majesty, and he had no chance to get close to currying favor with the imperial concubine.

Moreover, in Shang Ming's mind, the biggest threat to his official career now is not Wynn, but the young and strong faction who is younger than him, the admiral of Xichang Wang Zhi.

Even though Wang Zhi was the benefactor who single-handedly pushed him to the throne of the East Factory Admiral, Shang Ming didn't want to bow his head in front of him forever.

The east and west factories stand side by side, which is unprecedented in this dynasty.

As the admiral of the East Factory, he, like Wynn in the past, did not agree with the existence of the West Factory.

However, Wynn has been in love with Wang Zhi for many years after all. Last year, Wang Zhi's Xichang single-handedly caused a bloodbath in the court. To attract criticism, you need to restrain your temper and improve your methods.

But what Shang Ming wanted was to find an excuse to trip Wang Zhi, who was on top of his head, and Xichang, who was behind him, all to the ground.

During this period of time, apart from blackmailing Haoqiang in Beijing, Dongchang was looking for various opportunities to catch Xichang.

However, since Xichang was deposed by impeachment and reopened, it has not intervened in any major cases. Wang Zhi's silence and low-key made Shang Ming have nowhere to start, and he regretted it.

But just half a month ago, he got information from the little eunuch next to Eunuch Wynn, saying that His Majesty had sent someone to Liaodong to inspect the military situation, and the admiral of the West Factory, Wang Zhi, followed and monitored.

Did not say who.

Shang Ming is an old fox with a strong sense of politics, and he thinks it might be used to make a big fuss at this time.

He placed spies at the gates of various military yamen in Beijing, and after a period of time, his subordinates reported that they had not seen any changes in the yamen of the Ministry of War.

On the other hand, Master Wan, the commander of the Jinyiwei Yamen, hadn't seen him for a long time.

The younger brother of the imperial concubine Wan Huang, the most beloved brother-in-law of His Majesty, the youngest in the history of the Ming Dynasty, and the commander of the Jinyi Guard who has made countless contributions... This string of dazzling titles and the hidden power behind Wanda made Shang Ming Don't dare to make any decisions about him.

But Shang Ming also knew that Master Wan and Wang Zhina had been friends for many years.According to gossip, Wang Zhi was able to get the love and favor of his empress as soon as he entered the palace. It was thanks to this uncle of the country that he entered Zhaode Palace to serve him.

There are even more unbearable rumors in the inner palace, saying that when Wang Zhi was young, even though he was named Yumajian eunuch, he was actually the confinement of the "inhumane" Commander Wan.

Commander Wan has never been close to women since he was "injured on duty" more than ten years ago, and his heart is twisted. Apart from torturing prisoners for fun, he likes to play with young and beautiful teenagers.

Although Wang Zhi is an eunuch, his face is like a spring flower.Those who are servants are the ones who know the cold and the hot most, and they are small and low.He served Commander Wan so obediently, Master Wan reciprocated and promoted him to the position of Xichang in one fell swoop.

One of these two was in the front court, and the other was in the inner palace. They worked hand in hand and became horns of each other.Coupled with Wan Niangniang blowing pillow wind beside His Majesty... This stable power relationship made Shang Ming's jealousy almost bleed.

If it weren't for Shang Ming's age now, and his appearance is really not on the stage, he would have wanted to go to Commander Wan's baron's mansion to recommend himself as a pillow.

Shang Ming judged that Commander Wan this time should be the special envoy sent by His Majesty to Liaodong to investigate the military situation.

The governor of Liaodong, Chen Yue, has been submitting papers since he encircled and suppressed the Jurchen Ministry in the first month, wanting His Majesty to attack Liaodong on a large scale and reproduce the Battle of Dinghai ten years ago, but he has not received a reply for a long time.

In his impatience, he asked someone to get in touch with Shang Ming.

These two people who have their own ghosts hit it off.

Shang Ming deliberately leaked the news to Chen Yue, telling him that Xichang Wang Zhi came to Liaodong for an unannounced visit.

Regarding Commander Wan's matter, Shang Ming didn't mention a word.

His idea couldn't be clearer.

He stood still in the capital and allowed Chen Yue to destroy Jin Yiwei's plan.

Taking advantage of Chen Yue's guilty conscience and instigating the relationship between the Ministry of War, Jin Yiwei, and Xichang, he can just watch from the sidelines.

The crux of these problems was just mentioned by Qiu Zijin who suddenly figured everything out when Wanda was about to take people downstairs.

"Master Wan doesn't need to come forward in person. The East Factory is targeting the West Factory, so Ah Zhi can just go downstairs."

Qiu Zijin stopped Wanda, and after thinking for a while, he turned to Mei Qianzhang and said, "Go with Ah Zhi. The appearance of Mr. Yang and I have met many people in Beijing. We don't know what's going on now. Clear. You follow Ah Zhi to protect him."

His Majesty's decree is to allow them to "visit in private". Although they may be betrayed by Dongchang, it is also excellent to minimize the number of people who are exposed.

So, the scene in the hall now is that Wang Zhi is sitting high on the tiger skin chair specially found by shopkeeper Wang, with his right arm resting on the knee of his right leg, squinting at Chen Yue who is nodding and bowing, standing behind him. It was Mei Qianzhang who was wearing a mask and kept calm.

Chen Yue was domineering until Wang Zhi, but he didn't know that he was so domineering.

At any rate, he can be regarded as a garrison and in charge of military power. Wang Zhi treats himself like a little slave under his command... Fortunately, he received a secret report from Eunuch Shang, so he was prepared early and came to greet him immediately.

If he realized later and allowed this Dugong Wang to run around in various places in Liaodong, and his subordinates didn't know it and offended him, wouldn't he be implicated and walk around without food?

"I heard that Mr. Chen sent someone to check on the tenants? Come, here are the seals and guides from my father-in-law and his subordinates. Why don't Mr. Chen send someone to check?"

As Wang Zhi said, he took out a few vouchers from his pocket and handed them to Mei Qianzhang.

"Quickly check, after checking, my father-in-law still has to stand outside."

Wang Zhi pointed with his chin to the residents who were jumping in the cold in the yard outside, and said with a half-smile.

"Elder-in-law was joking, how dare you check on Eunuch. Those people... Hurry up and get them in and rush back to the room!"

Chen Yue's "little one" made Wang Zhi very sick.

What Wang Zhi admires the most is the upright man.So even though Xiang Zhong humiliated him many times because of his status as a "eunuch", he has always respected him in his heart.Even if he was later demoted by His Majesty because of his different positions, it would not hinder Wang Zhi's respect for him.

On the other hand, Chen Yue...

Wang Zhi frowned in disgust, and cursed this person in his heart.

"My lord, Ah Zhi followed Chen Yue and left."

Gao Hui, who was standing at the door looking down, came in and reported.

"They should have gone to Liaodong Daying."

Qiu Zijin said with a smile, "Your Excellency, you might as well guess what that Chen Yue will do to please Ah Zhi."

"Master Chen, you really don't have to be like this..."

Wang Zhi watched in surprise as Chen Yue, who was dressed in military uniform, was actually making a bed for himself.

"I heard that my father-in-law came here, so I immediately asked someone to clean out the best guest room. These sheets and beddings are all newly bought, and I was afraid that my father-in-law would not be used to it, so I specially asked someone to smoke them."

Mei Qianzhang stood in the corner, thinking that this must be the most delicious barracks in the entire Nine Sides, and she really didn't expect the dignified governor to be able to do this.

He was so attentive, Wang Zhi couldn't bear to tear himself apart with him, and asked him face to face where he knew his whereabouts to Liaodong.

"Okay, let's go down. I'm tired, I'm going to rest."

Wang Zhi said, stretching on purpose.

"Yes, it's late at night, father-in-law should arrange it earlier."

Chen Yue bowed and said, "The law and order in the border town is not good, and there are often thieves and foreign bandits harassing. But the father-in-law don't worry, the little one stands outside the door and guards for the father-in-law. If the father-in-law needs anything at night, just call me The little ones must be on call."

"...Understood, let's go out."

Wang Zhi nodded his chin pretending to be old Chen.

Chen Yue turned around and cast his gaze on Mei Qianzhang.

Mei Qianzhang graciously walked to the closet, found a quilt from inside, spread it on the floor, and sat on it.

It seems that this person is also a servant... I have never heard of a masked eunuch in the palace before, so it should be the head of Xichang.

Thinking of this, Chen Yue showed a flattering smile to Mei Qianzhang, retreated respectfully, and closed the door.

He closed the door with his front foot, and Mei Qianzhang jumped up, tiptoed to the door, and peeked through the crack of the door.

"He really guarded the door and stood there all the time."

After a while, Mei Qianzhang came back and whispered in Wang Zhi's ear, "His subordinates brought him a stool, but he refused. Just standing outside the door like this, I really regarded myself as a guard. "

"This Mr. Chen is so resilient, he has a 'boundless future' in the future."

Wang Zhi snorted disdainfully.

"Brother Xiaoqian, while he's not in the room, why don't you go to his room and check around to see if there are any correspondence or anything like that."

"That's exactly what I mean."

Mei Qianzhang clenched her fists, her eyes were full of enthusiasm.

"Yijianmei" is coming out again!

"Have you heard? The governor's office in Liaodong was stolen yesterday."

Early the next morning, when Wanda took Alan by the hand and followed Yang Xiuxian downstairs, he heard the people downstairs talking a lot.

He looked in the direction of the counter curiously, Wang Qianhu shook his head at him, also with a puzzled expression.

"The governor of Liaodong, could it be that he gave us a good meal last night. Then he met a high-ranking official from the capital, and a man who bowed his knees like a dog?"

Speaking of what happened last night, these merchants gritted their teeth with hatred.

When I go out to run a business, I am most afraid of getting sick.First, it will affect the business, and second, it is very likely that they will die in a foreign land.

Last night, I was tossed by those officers and soldiers for a long time. Many of them suffered from the wind and cold. The doctors from the medical center in the city came several times this morning.

Seeing Wanda and the others going downstairs, these people just glanced over habitually and didn't ask much.

They were all driven outside after they went downstairs yesterday, and they had never seen Wang Zhi in eunuch uniform, so they didn't know that the nephew of shopkeeper Wan was the "high official from the capital" yesterday.Only when his nephew also suffered from the cold and was resting upstairs.

"Isn't it just the dog officer yesterday. He dealt with us like that last night, but as soon as he returned, his own barracks suffered. Haha, I really don't know how the high official will reprimand him yesterday!"

The man gloated and sneezed heavily.

"I heard that something was lost? Could it be that the official seal was stolen?"

"I don't know about that, I just heard that the entire governor's office was looking for things this morning, and everyone was going crazy."

The man said, sucking his nose, staring at his eyes, and pretending to be mysterious, "It is said that this thief left something in the government office..."

Wanda tugged Qiu Zijin's sleeve with great interest.

Hey, this plot is somewhat familiar...

"He drew a picture of white snow and red plums on the wall!"

really!

Wanda almost couldn't help applauding.

It's still the familiar formula, it's still the original taste, from Tiannan to Haibei, Mei Qianzhang is still Mei Qianzhang!

In a teahouse outside Mashi, Wang Zhi handed two letters to Wanda and Yang Xiuxian who came to meet him.

"Why, that Mr. Chen won't be your bodyguard today?"

Qiu Zijin heard what happened last night from Mei Qianzhang, and smiled at Wang Zhi.

"That's what he wanted to do. He brought me breakfast himself from the kitchen today."

Wang Zhi smiled and said, "But after hearing that the study room was stolen, I was so frightened that I couldn't care about anything. Even Brother Xiaoqian and I forgot to send a few people to follow when we went out."

"If such an important thing is gone, everyone would be out of their minds."

Wanda pointed to the two letters on the table.

One was a letter between Chen Yue and Shang Ming, in which Shang Ming revealed that His Majesty had sent someone to Liaodong to investigate the previous battle in Fengji Fort.But he didn't say who came, only that the governor of Xichang left Beijing today and his whereabouts are unknown.

"What a white-eyed wolf."

Thinking that this thing was actually pulled up by himself, Wang Zhi gritted his teeth with hatred.

"It's a felony for internal servants and foreign ministers, especially border guards, to communicate in private."

Qiu Zijin said, "It is said that Shang Ming cracked a case of theft by a servant in the palace some time ago. The limelight has already overshadowed Father Qin Chang, and he is showing his face in front of His Majesty and His Majesty. Now that the generals of Jinyiwei and Xichang are at the border, Beijing can The forces to compete with Dongchang basically don't exist anymore. Coupled with the collusion with Chen Yue, he is going every step of the way, trying to make Dongchang surpass Xichang and Jinyiwei."

There is one more thing that Qiu Zijin didn't say, that is, Shang Ming searched for powerful people in Beijing before, but he did not offend ordinary people.He even forcibly restrained his fans, so that they could no longer oppress and humiliate the poor people.

Such a move won Shang Ming a good reputation in the court.

At least it is not a little bit better than Wanda, who is "No. [-] in the list of evil forces in Kyoto" and Wang Zhi, who had caused a big change in the entire former cabinet.

Shang Ming, a genius among officials.

Before, he just suffered from not having the opportunity to take the top position. Once he got the opportunity, he would soar into the sky.

"This... is even more unexpected."

This is a notebook, to be precise, it is a criticized notebook.

In the 12th year of Chenghua, that is, in December two years ago, this Chen Yue wrote to Zhu Jianshen, requesting that he be superior to the commander of the capital by comparing the powers of the former governor Peng Yi.He was refuted by Zhu Jianshen: "Ministers are not allowed to specialize in prestige. Although it is sometimes used as an expedient, it is not the old law of the ancestors. Chen Yue wants to ask the command of the capital to govern directly. He wants to specialize in prestige and evil! Please do not allow .” (Note 1)

"After a long time, this Chen Yue does not have the general military power of the Liaodong Guard. Then he led the troops out and appointed himself the commander-in-chief. Didn't he exceed his authority without authorization?"

Wanda asked worriedly.

According to his understanding of the emperor's brother-in-law, with Zhu Jianshen's character, he would never allow the existence of a "Emperor of Earth" who was above the government in the frontier.

Before that, it was only salt merchants in Guangxi who bought the magistrate, which made Zhu Jianshen furious.

The situation on the nine sides is more complicated than that of the southern chieftain, involving the old hatred of the previous dynasty and the stability of the frontier.If this Chen Yue is allowed to mess around here, wouldn't he be on fire?

Although Wanda knew in his heart that there was nothing wrong with the Qing Dynasty at this time, he couldn't just sit idly by.

"After I go back today, I will write a secret letter to report to His Majesty about Chen Yue's feuding and arrogating power. Let His Majesty remove him from the post of governor and return to Beijing to be imprisoned."

Wang Zhi patted the table and said angrily.

At this moment, a burst of noise came from under the teahouse.

This tea house is facing a fence of the horse market, and you can see a corner of the horse market.Yang Xiuxian walked to the railing and looked down for a while, then turned around and waved to Wanda and Qiu Zijin, motioning them to come and watch.

The people below seemed to be arguing over the horse trade. A man dressed as a Han Chinese was holding the clothes of a foreign horse dealer, as if he was arguing about something.And the horse dealer and the two people around him, relying on the large number of people, pushed the aggressive man to the ground, making a gesture of beating him.

"How does this work?"

Seeing that he couldn't bully others, Wang Zhi leaned over to reprimand them while leaning on the railing with both hands.

Pulled down by Yang Xiuxian.

"There are guards on patrol in the horse market, and they dare not be too arrogant. Besides, your current status is the governor who has just arrived in the West Factory, so you can't just appear in the horse market."

Sure enough, as soon as Yang Xiuxian finished speaking, he saw a team of guards with knives rushing over and separated the people on both sides.

However, these guards treated their compatriots in distress very badly. They dragged the Han man who had already received several punches out of the horse market and threw them outside the archway.

As for the few foreign businessmen who beat them, they only verbally reprimanded them, and their attitude was friendly.

However, when they received a small silver ingot that the leader of the assailant took out from his arms, their attitude was directly upgraded from "friendly" to "loving".

"What kind of dog..."

Wang Zhi scolded.

"Hey, don't you think these two horse dealers look familiar?"

Leaning on the railing, Wan Lan, who was watching with gusto, suddenly said, "Isn't that the man named 'Tuojin' whom I saw at Ajiga yesterday?"

Wanda looked in the direction Wan Lan was pointing at. The few people were fighting together just now, and there was a group of people who just joined in the fun, so he couldn't see it very clearly from above.Now that the crowd has dispersed, looking from this height, the few below are indeed men from the Ajiga tribe.

"We're going to meet Tuojin, Azhi, go find that Han man. After inquiring about the news, we'll come back here to meet at noon."

Wanda quickly finished assigning tasks and was about to go down.

"father."

Wan Lan grabbed his sleeve all of a sudden, "I want to go out to play."

An adult handles a case, why is he a kid beside him to join in the fun.He listened to their analysis and analysis, and felt that it was boring.

The weather is fine today. The heavy snow stopped in the middle of the night yesterday. Now it is cloudless outside, and the clear blue sky seems to have been wiped off. It is a good time to play.

"No. Your Xiaoqian brother wants to follow your Azhi brother to handle the case, no one has the time to watch you. You follow me obediently, don't come up with anything."

Wanda directly vetoed it.

"I don't need anyone to watch. Duo'er and I have made an appointment. If it doesn't snow today, we will go to the grassland to release eagles."

Wan Lan said.

"You... You still have a 'date' with her? You have only met a few times, and you still have a 'date'?"

Wanda's voice suddenly rose and her tone changed.

How old is this kid?The hair hasn't grown yet, so you're still dating like others?

"I'm not allowed!"

Just like the old parents of countless junior high school and high school students, Wanda has ten thousand beasts galloping in his heart at the moment, each of them shouting "Dabaa, Dabaa~ Puppy love Dabaa~"

"I don't! An appointment is an appointment. Duo'er is waiting for me outside the city. Besides, 'Wandefu' can't wait!"

Wan Lan stomped anxiously, pointed to the eagle flying in the sky outside, and argued relentlessly.

"I also told you that today's dinner is roasted goshawk with honey sauce!"

The battle between father and son is imminent.

The author has something to say: Note 1: "Guochao Dianhui", Volume 21, "Office of Officials [-]. Governor and Governor", A Lan is just a child, just wants to play, and has no concept of puppy love at all.