Although Shashi was just a town in Jingzhou at that time, it was prosperous in commerce and well-known throughout the country. In the early Qing Dynasty, someone once wrote: "There are ninety-nine lanes, each row occupies one lane; boats and cars gather together, and it is prosperous.
Yu Nei, the current capital, is inferior to Gusu."
Because Shashi was so wealthy and prosperous in the late Ming Dynasty and had no worries about material supplies, Yang Sichang set up his supervisor's headquarters in Xu Garden, also known as the Xu Family Garden, in Shashi.
At that time, he only knew that Xiangyang fell and King Xiang was killed, but the news about the fall of Luoyang came from rumors and was half-believed and half-doubted. The report about the fall of Xiangyang was obtained on a ship leaving the Three Gorges. After receiving the report of the fall of Xiangyang, he was "
The military and its own future fell into despair.
Before receiving the news from Xiangyang, his close associates often saw him sitting in the cabin, or standing alone on the bow of the boat in the quiet night, sometimes looking down at the river and sighing. After leaving the Three Gorges and receiving the news from Xiangyang, he could hardly contain himself.
When he arrived at Shashi, he looked very haggard, and his close friends thought he was ill.
Today is his fifty-fourth birthday. As usual, the generals and officials prepared a banquet for him, but it was just a temporary occasion, and could not be compared with the grand occasion in Xiangyang last year. There was no opera troupe to sing or official prostitutes to sing and dance.
He had not eaten for two days, so he reluctantly accepted the congratulations of the generals and sat at the banquet for a while. The banquet ended hastily in a gloomy atmosphere.
He understood the mood of the generals. When he was about to leave the birthday hall, he steeled himself and said in a heavy voice: "Since I was appointed as the governor, you have worked hard. You originally wanted to perform meritorious service and serve the imperial court. Unexpectedly,
The army to suppress bandits suffered repeated setbacks, leading to the fall of Xiangyang and the death of King Xiang. Such an incident was unexpected. Two years of bleak management will be in vain! However, the emperor has been so kind to me, so we should try our best to do it again.
We hope it will work in the future. You must not be discouraged and despair, and miss the opportunity to repair the situation. I am willing to encourage you all!"
He retreated to the flower hall where he handled official duties and slept, retreated to the left and right, and sat alone at the table to rest. He did not believe what he had just said, but there was still a very slim glimmer of hope in his heart.
Because he ordered no one to disturb him, the small courtyard was very quiet, except for a small bird that occasionally landed on a branch and chirped a few times. He wanted to carefully consider what to do next, but his thoughts were confused.
For a while, he thought that the emperor would probably punish him severely immediately, and maybe the Tiqi who came to arrest him had already left the capital.
For a while, he fantasized that the emperor would issue an edict and punish him severely, but he would still make him take advantage of his guilt and save the situation.
For a while, he thought about how arrogant and domineering generals such as Zuo Liangyu did not listen to orders, and how the Sichuan officials and gentry resisted and sabotaged his military strategy in every possible way and spread rumors to attack him.
For a moment, he guessed that there must be an uproar in the court, accusing him of squandering millions of money, defeating the bandits, and falling into the hands of the vassal king.
He was well aware of the intense sectarian struggle between the ruling and gentry-bureaucrats for decades. His father had been in prison for many years during the sectarian struggle and was still scolded after his death. He himself lived in the storm of the sectarian struggle every day.
"Those people," he said in his heart, "seize this opportunity and will never let me pass!" He thought of the emperor's "holy favor" for him, and felt really unsure, so he sighed and blurted out: "
None of the saints from the past are immutable, let alone your current temperament!"
His voice was very low and was not heard by the servants waiting outside the window. He had lacked sleep for several days and had not eaten much for two days. After sitting for a long time, he became increasingly dizzy and exhausted. So he went into the inner room and lay down with his clothes on.
, fell asleep unconsciously.
Yang Sichang had a nightmare. He dreamed that he had been arrested in Beijing and was in the Ministry of Punishment Prison. Almost most of the courtiers came to attack him and wanted to convict him of death. The emperor was also very angry; those who usually had a good relationship with him
Colleagues did not dare to say anything under such circumstances, and some even went to court to criticize him, instigating him for many crimes.
He dreamed of Xiong Wencan again, and Fang Kong went to prison to see him together. Xiong Wencan lowered his head and sighed, but said nothing, but Fang Kong whispered to him: "Wen Ruo, his ambition has changed, the power of God is unpredictable!"
He woke up with a start and broke into a cold sweat. After calming down, he realized that he had dreamed about two dead people, one was beheaded by the emperor and the other committed suicide. He dreamed about this evil dream and sighed in his heart: "Oh, I understand.
!”
When he came to Shashi the day before yesterday, the ship passed Jingzhou. He had wanted to go ashore to see King Hui. On the one hand, he wanted to reassure King Hui that there was no danger in Jingzhou. On the other hand, he wanted to find out what King Hui said about the fall of Xiangyang.
At that time, he suddenly had a cold and fever, so he did not land. This morning, he sent his family member Yang Zhong to ride to Jingzhou with his greeting card to meet Liu Jifang, the director of Prince Hui's Mansion, and said that he would go to see Prince Hui. Now he still plans to
Go and test out King Hui's tone in person so that you can deduce the emperor's attitude.
He called out from the pillow: "Here comes someone!"
A servant quickly and cautiously walked in and stood respectfully in front of the bed. Yang Sichang asked Yang Zhong if he had come back from Jingzhou. The servant told him that he had come back because he was sleeping and did not dare to wake up. He was waiting in the side room.
He immediately asked his servant to call Yang Zhong to the bed and asked, "Have you seen Liu Chengfeng?"
Yang Zhong replied respectfully: "I have already met Liu Chengfeng and informed him of my intention to meet His Royal Highness King Hui."
Yang Sichang got out of bed and asked again: "Have you made an appointment for the meeting?"
"Liu Chengfeng immediately sent Qiben 1 to His Highness King Hui. He went there for a long time, but please don't be angry. King Hui said...please don't be angry. It's okay if you don't go to court."
Yang Sichang felt a chill in his heart and said angrily: "Don't be rude! What is King Hui's message?"
Yang Zhong said: "Liu Chengfeng passed down the oral instructions of His Highness King Hui: 'Mr. Yang would like to see me, but please see King Xiang first.'"
After hearing this, Yang Sichang was shocked, his eyesight went dark, and he slumped down on the bed. However, he had been a trusted minister of the emperor for a long time, and developed a skill. In an instant, he regained his apparent calmness, and never spoke in front of the servants.
Panicked by the exposure, he lost his composure. He slowly and softly said: "Bring me some face wash!"
The servants outside had prepared washing water for him. Hearing the sound, they opened the curtain and waited for him to wash his face. He felt cold all over, so he added a purple squirrel robe to his round-collar officer's casual clothes, and then forced himself out.
Spirit, walked out of the inner room, walked out of the flower hall, and stood still under the eaves.
When the servants saw him, they all stood with their hands down and were silent, just like before, but he saw a heavy look of sadness on their faces. The chief military officer of the army in the camp and several close aides came to the small courtyard, and some of them were waiting.
I have some instructions and I want to report to him.
He waved his hand gently and made them all retreat.
A little bird chirped on the tree. A cloud floated into the distance in the sky and then disappeared. He suddenly recalled the scene when the emperor gave a banquet and all the officials had a farewell party outside Guangning Gate a year and a half ago when he was leaving the capital.
Thinking of his ambition and prestige when he first arrived in Xiangyang, I couldn't help but sigh in my heart: "Life is like a dream!"
So he lowered his head and retreated into the flower hall, intending to review some urgent documents.
After he sat down in front of the case, a servant quickly brought him a cup of hot medicinal wine. This was high-quality Korean ginseng soaked in the Yulu Spring wine given to him by the emperor. Recently, he drank a cup every morning and after his nap.
After drinking it, he felt slightly better. He opened the file marked "urgent secret" on the case and began to review the documents. The servant brought him a bowl of bird's nest soup.
The first thing Yang Sichang saw was a document from the traitor general Zuo Liangyu, and he felt annoyed. He didn't want to open it, so he put it aside and picked up something else.
After reviewing several military intelligence documents, he felt dizzy. He took a short rest, drank half a bowl of bird's nest soup, glanced at Zuo Liangyu's document, but still didn't want to read it, and continued to review other documents. After a while, he again
Stop, take a short rest, and finish the bird's nest soup.
But in the end, after thinking about it, Yang Sichang opened Zuo Liangyu's urgent confidential documents.
In addition to briefly reporting to him the situation of the "pursuit and suppression", Zuo Liangyu pointed out in a sarcastic tone that he had made a big mistake due to his improper command over the past year. He reluctantly finished reading it and broke into a sweat. Wow.
With a sound, he spat out the bird's nest soup he had just eaten.
He understood that Zuo Liangyu must have concluded that he would inevitably be punished by the emperor, so he dared to ridicule him so brazenly, accuse him, and put all the responsibility for the military defeat on him. He sighed and cursed hatefully: "Damn it.
!" He fell weakly onto the back of the armchair.
Two servants immediately ran in, one cleaned the dirt on the floor, the other brought warm water and asked him to rinse his mouth, and asked him if he wanted a doctor to come in. He shook his head and asked, "Who was talking in the hospital just now?"
The servant replied: "Master Wan was about to come in just now. Because he happened to be vomiting, he stopped outside and waited."
Yang Sichang said feebly: "Please come in quickly!"
========================
1 A letter to the prince in the Ming Dynasty, called Qiben