The cosmetics buildings in the area are close to the water, and every family's pink shadow is reflected in the beauty of Chanjuan.
The twelfth lunar month, Nanjing city.
Two sedans, which were not extravagant or eye-catching but were neat and elegant, were parked near Banqiao on the Qinhuai River.
Hong Chengchou, the young minister of the State Council Temple, dressed in straight cotton clothes and an azure wind robe, stepped down from the sedan chair.
Wen Tiren, the minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites, who, like Hong Chengchou, was wearing regular clothes, walked over from another sedan chair.
"Hong Shaoqing can recognize that the row of cottages over there is Gongyuan."
Hong Chengchou raised his eyes politely and raised his hand to Wen Tiren: "With the guidance of Minister Wen, I can revisit my old place."
"Haha, the past is like yesterday. The scene when I took the provincial examination in Gongyuan seems to be still vivid in my mind. Thirty years have passed in a flash."
Wen Tiren squinted his eyes and recalled his old appearance calmly, but in fact he couldn't help but show off his seniority in front of Hong Chengchou.
Wen Tiren was from Huzhou and Hong Chengchou was from Zhangzhou. When they took part in the provincial imperial examination, they both went to Nanjing Gongyuan to take the examination.
Wen Shilang is already fifty years old this year. Not only is he much older than Hong Chengchou, who has just established his career, but he also became a Jinshi twenty years earlier. Although the status of Nanjing's six-bu yamen is incomparable with that of Beijing, the character of the Minister of Rites is
After all, his rank is higher than that of Shaoqing of the State Council Temple.
If he hadn't found out clearly about Hong Chengchou's female boss and Dong Lin, Shilang Wen wouldn't have condescended to entertain Hong Chengchou personally.
In this room, Hong Chengchou, who was no longer considered a newcomer to the officialdom, was using his complimentary words and humble junior etiquette smoothly. He couldn't help but admire his boss's prediction.
Half a month ago, when Zheng Haizhu asked him to go south to contact Qi Jin and explain the plan of secretly crossing Chencang, he repeatedly reminded him that there may be more Mongolians, Shanxi people, Jizhen people, Liaodong people, and even Liubu people in the capital to spy on Nurhachi.
The courtyard might not be that clean, so after Hong Chengchou arrived in Southern Zhili, he should not go to Zhenjiang to find General Qi, but stay in Nanjing, waiting for Zheng Haizhu's own spy team to secretly invite Qi.
The old general came to Nanjing City, and the two discussed it in detail.
As for what superficiality he was doing in Nanjing, Zheng Haizhu told Hong Chengchou that someone from the Nanjing Ministry of Rites would treat him as a guest.
Sure enough, on the second day after staying at the Nanjing Post House, Wen Tiren, the Minister of Rites, sent someone to deliver a message, saying that Minister Wen wanted to fulfill his duties as a landlord.
Hong Chengchou did not have the perspective of a descendant of Zheng Haizhu, and he did not know that the modest and gentlemanly Minister Wen in front of him was actually a deep-seated man. In real history, in the first half of his official career, he dressed himself up as a high official who was neither party nor group, and was indifferent to fame and fortune.
Then he was obsessed with intrigues at the center of the Chongzhen Dynasty. After fighting against Donglin, he also fought with his former ally Zhou Yanru. He did nothing but flatter others.
When Zheng Haizhu told Hong Chengchou before leaving, it was enough to say that Wen Tiren, a Huzhou native, was not a member of the Zhejiang Party but did not like Donglin. She then looked to see if Hong Chengchou, her subordinate, was as smart as she expected and could figure out what she was doing.
Take advantage of the intention of once warming the body.
Today, Wen Tiren entertained Hong Chengchou in the depths of a brothel that looked like an academy near Gongyuan.
The singing girl performed three pieces of music, and the fake mother who was sitting with her saw the look in Minister Wen's eyes and asked the beautiful lady to step aside knowingly.
Wen Tiren took a sip of wine and finally stopped trying to hide it. He said angrily: "The sound of wind and rain, the sound of reading, national affairs, family affairs, world affairs, haha, they say they care about everything, but in fact they just want to follow the Sacred Heart. Why are everyone righteous?
To the dynasty, a great hypocrite is nothing more than a loyal one."
Of course, Hong Chengchou heard that the other person was spitting on Zhao Nanxing of Donglin, but he did not answer immediately, but changed the subject: "The minister is originally from Huzhou? What a good place. Zheng Siqing told his subordinates that after Songjiang was switched off,
, Huzhou's silk satins and brocades, merchants rushed to get them, begging Songjiang Prefecture to send more boat guides, and it wouldn't hurt to add some money. Haha, the minister, she couldn't help but be happy when she heard that the Ministry of Household Affairs of the country had income.
"
Wen Tiren muttered to himself that the merchant woman's subordinates were all slippery.
However, his face was filled with anger and determination, and he stared at Hong Chengchou and said, "Young Master has actually understood what I said."
Hong Chengchou raised his butt halfway, cupped his hands and said, "Junior, I respectfully listen to Minister Wen's advice."
Wen Tiren solemnly said: "Officials of the Liubu Hall in Nanjing are ridiculed by the world for being the Minister of Flowers and Birds. Although they wear official robes, they are just watching flowers and playing with birds in their rooms. They are not the same as the celebrities in the Liubu Hall of the capital. But I have never
The state of idleness, the thoughts and thoughts day and night, are all the mountains and rivers of Ming Dynasty. Hong Shaoqing, I open the sky window and speak openly. I would like to go to the imperial court in the name of Nanjing Minister of Rites to rebuke Zhao Nanxing, who was the Minister of Rites at that time.
, regardless of the Liao affairs in full swing, he made arbitrary decisions, wasted public funds, and put the safety of our Ming border guards in jeopardy!"
Hong Chengchou pretended to be moved when he heard the words. He opened his mouth slightly and was stunned for a moment. Then he stood up solemnly and bowed deeply: "Shilang Wen has great righteousness and sets an example for others. I will definitely remember this in my heart."
Wen Tiren hurriedly raised his hand to signal him to sit down, and said secretly, "I want you to remember this in mind. I want you to give me an accurate answer."
He then continued to sigh and said: "It's not easy for you, the new yamen of the State Council Temple. Dear brother, don't blame me for being a teacher. You, Lord Zheng, are from a shady background. You don't have the same age as your lord. Relying on the help of a few eunuchs alone is not a long-term solution."
Hong Chengchou felt like he had a mirror in his heart, so he expressed his sincerity at this moment: "Secretary Minister, the minister of the temple actually understands this to some extent, otherwise he would not have found a fellow countryman like Xiaguan. But in the end, the two of us are still alone.
A little weak. If I could have such a capable minister as the minister, I could go hand in hand with him..."
Right, just listen to this.
Wen Tirensui had a stern expression that said, "That's something to discuss later." He said sternly: "In the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate, I also have many colleagues and confidants. The censors in the capital are dumb, and our censors in Nanjing are dumb.
Come and write. How about it?"
Hong Chengchou raised his butt for the second time.
"For the minister of the temple, I would like to thank Mr. Wen for his upright words. To be honest, the minister of the temple sent his official to the south this time because he originally wanted to visit the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate. Since Mr. Wen is willing to come forward, I have the courage to ask Mr. Wen to give me an indication.
Next, the State Council Temple, the Nanjing Ministry of Rites, and the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate will come and fight Donglin openly, okay?"
Wen Tiren's face was full of openness and aboveboard: "It should be like this. The dispute between gentlemen should be spread everywhere, why not?"
After saying this, he changed his tone to giving advice face-to-face: "Just in time, you, Master Zheng, can learn a trick to see the difference between friends and foes in this court."
Hong Chengchou secretly thought that our court officials had learned this trick a long time ago. Not only did we learn it, we also came up with ideas and asked the emperor to watch it too.
The two of them negotiated the terms of cooperation and drank a few more drinks. Since they both prided themselves on their status and would not stay to listen to music any longer, they left the Qinlou Chu Pavilion, which was filled with a faint smell of powder.
It was still early in the day, so Hong Chengchou saw clearly that there was a paper fan shop nearby and stepped forward to take a look.
Wen Tiren smiled and said: "I have nothing in the south of the Yangtze River, so I want to give you a branch of spring. Brother Hong Xian, although it is the middle of winter, this paper fan shop in Jinling is full of spring scenery. Come, you choose a few, I will give them to you and Zheng Si
Sir."
The shopkeeper of the fan shop had sharp eyes, and he could tell early on that the person coming was definitely a high official. He carefully listened to Wen Tiren's words, hurriedly greeted the two waiters, selected a few round fans and folding fans with bright spring scenes, and introduced them to Hong Chengchou respectfully.
Hong Chengchou picked up a folding fan, turned to face the door, compared it for a while, and then realized: "Is this a painting of peach blossoms by the Qinhuai River?"
The shopkeeper was all smiles: "Master, you have a good eye! In two months' time, when the spring breeze turns green again on the south bank of the river, the peach blossoms outside our door will bloom like clouds."
"Okay, please bring me any fan with peach blossoms painted on it, regardless of whether it is a round or folding fan."
While they were talking, a young couple also entered the fan shop. The man was wearing a scholar's square scarf, and the woman was holding in her arms a baby girl who seemed to have just turned one year old. She had beautiful features, like a fairy child in a painting.
"Mr. Dong." Another waiter came up to greet him, apparently a regular customer.
The scholar politely said: "Excuse me, brother, please choose a folding fan with spring scenes painted on it for us."
"No need to choose, I think the one Xiaowan picked is good," the scholar's wife looked at her precious daughter with a smile, and said in a soft voice, "yesterday I saw the young master of the Hou family practicing his pen by the window.
It’s similar to this picture.”
Hong Chengchou looked distractedly and saw that the beautiful girl held a peach blossom fan in her snow-white hands.