Qian Qianyi had already submitted his resignation several times. He complained to the emperor that he was ill and begged to return, claiming that his foot illness was serious and that he was about to be unable to walk and that he could no longer serve as an official.
I just submitted several speeches and chapters in succession, but they were all like a mud cow drowning in the sea, without any response.
Today is a holiday. Qian Qianyi and his wife Liu Rushi went to Longze, Changping, in the western suburbs. This place is known as the Dragon Vein of Beijing. Therefore, there are not only royal palaces, but also many princes, nobles and nobles who have built manors and villas here, all wanting to touch the dragon.
Qi shares wealth and honor, and those who can build a manor here are either rich or noble.
It’s not enough to just have money, you also have to have an identity.
Those with actual positions below the third rank and nobility below the earl are not eligible to buy property here.
The people who developed these manors in Xishan are under the name of the Imperial Young Master, and they have the royal brand. In the Xishan manor area where every inch of land is precious, every manor and villa is exquisitely designed. Many of them are Suzhou garden masters.
Every manor is the work of a famous master.
Qian Qianyi has a large manor in Xishan. After all, his status is there. Qian Qianyi also planned to rest here in the future, so he spent a lot of effort and three years to complete the manor. Although
The place is not very spacious, but it is very clean and elegant. Qian Qianyi likes his state of mind, and Liu Rushi also likes it very much. The couple will come here when they are on vacation.
It's just that Qian Qianyi was not at all happy and relaxed on the way to the manor this time. His face was full of wrinkles, and he, who was already thin, looked even more miserable and sad, and he sighed from time to time. Liu Rushi looked at the man who was over sixty.
The husband reached out and took his hand in his.
"Maybe things are not as you imagined."
The four-wheeled carriage traveled westward along the Shah River. The large carriage was luxuriously decorated, spacious inside, and very comfortable. It not only had soft seats, but also a coffee table, teapot, etc.
In front of the big carriage, there were several servants riding horses to clear the way, and behind them were a large group of servants and women, which showed that the former leader of Donglin had a high status in the new dynasty.
But now Qian Qianyi was scared to the core. He felt like his heart was being pinched. Since the emperor returned to the capital, Qian Qianyi had not slept peacefully for a day.
Compared with Hong Chengchou, who first went to the northwest to quell the rebellion in the past few years and then went to Liuzhou to seek the governorship, Qian Qianyi has always stayed in the capital, working in the Imperial Procuratorate and the Admonition Institute, and even held the title of bachelor's degree and became the prime minister.
In the past few years, in the eyes of outsiders, Qian Qianyi was successful. Although he once took the lead in shaving his hair, opening up the city to welcome the Qing Dynasty, and later went to Beijing to serve as an official, he was still appreciated and trusted by Emperor Shaotian when he came back.
Many people even truly believe that he sneaked into the enemy camp to work as a spy when he was with the Tatars.
But Qian Qianyi knew very well that he really surrendered to the Qing Dynasty back then. Even though he later took the initiative to contact Zhu Yihai to inform him, it could not change this.
In recent years, many ministers who have committed crimes like him are still in important positions. Even Ruan Dacheng and Ma Shiying are still above him. Hong Chengchou is also highly valued. Even Wu Sangui can serve as governor to guard one side.
But all this still left him with a bit of uneasiness in his heart. He did not dare to be negligent in admonishing the two houses. He changed his behavior from the previous leader of Donglin and began to stare at him like an emperor's loyal dog.
All officials in the imperial court, from top to bottom, were unselfish and unselfish towards everyone. No matter who was a member of the Donglin Fushe community, no matter who was a former teacher or student, who was in the same year or from the same hometown, he showed no mercy.
Over the years, he has impeached and investigated countless officials. Even when Chen Zilong, Hou Fangyu, Hou Xun and others were organized into a clique and rebel group, he was the one who took the lead.
These actions made Qian Qianyi gradually criticized and cast aside by many of his former comrades, even though he had been stable in the government for many years and held important positions.
Once upon a time, Qian Qianyi also felt that he had done enough and should have completely won the emperor's trust, at least to be stable enough to become an official.
But this time when the emperor came back, Qian Qianyi immediately sensed something was wrong.
The emperor actually wanted to abdicate in favor of the prince.
Then the emperor was making a lot of tight personnel arrangements, and even just decided to let the five adopted sons restore their original surnames, grant them the title of Duke of each Jin Dynasty, set up a camp to conquer Burma, and transfer all the five adopted sons.
Such as various.
Qian Qianyi noticed something was wrong.
The emperor is only thirty-six years old, why does he suddenly want to take the Zen position? If the emperor really wants to take the Zen position, the most likely reason is that there is something wrong with the emperor's dragon body and he will not live long. And now Tai Tai is not even twenty years old, so the emperor can rest assured
?
Who would the emperor be worried about?
Almost instinctively, Qian Qianyi felt that he was in danger.
Although he is over sixty years old, his body is still very healthy. It may be okay to live for another ten or twenty years. Although what he has done in the past few years has made him unworthy in the eyes of Donglin, Fushe and others.
He is no longer a leader, but after all, he is still very influential among the literati.
"Have Qian Yangxian and Chen Zaizhu not come back yet?" Qian Qianyi was worried.
Qian and Chen are his very close disciples of the tribe. They have always worked under him. They are trustworthy in terms of their ability to do things and their loyalty. He sent them to find out some information and even contacted some people for him, but until now
No one came back.
His heart hung tighter, always feeling that something had happened.
A voice came from outside the carriage, "Return to the master, not yet."
"What are you worried about, sir?" Liu Rushi asked.
"Thunder, rain, and dew are all your kindness." Qian Qianyi sighed. The city of Beijing was very peaceful at the moment, but he increasingly felt that this was a precursor to the coming storm.
An old era is coming to an end and a new era is coming.
And figures from the old era like him may not be able to escape being taken away by the old era after all.
"I have done so much for the court and the saint, isn't it enough?"
Although Liu Rushi was a talented and famous prostitute, she was only a little girl after all. How could they realize the advantages and disadvantages of being in a temple?
As the former leader of Donglin, Qian Qianyi had a fierce power struggle with Zhou Yanru, Wen Tiren, and even later fought openly and covertly with Ruan Shicheng, Ma Shiying, and other Donglin gentlemen in the Nanjing Hongguang court, and then joined the Shaotian Dynasty and turned around.
Acting as the emperor's eagle dog, this seemingly thin old man is a master of fighting.
Even the love fight with Chen Zilong and others in the land beside the Qinhuai River was the result of the beauty he finally embraced. In order to win the beauty of Liu Rushi, at his age and the dignified leader of Donglin, he was even able to ignore the criticism of the people in the world.
Regardless of face, he took a prostitute back home as a wife.
At that time, Chen Zilong, a famous scholar in Donglin, was one step ahead in his relationship with Liu Rushi, and even let Liu Rushi be a stay-at-home wife for a long time. In the end, because Chen Zilong could not give Liu a status, Liu left him, but Qian Qianyi
If he is willing to go out and marry Liu Rushi as his wife, he will enter the house.
All these reveal that Qian Qianyi is actually a ruthless person.
When Zhenjiang was captured and Emperor Hongguang fled, Qian Qianyi decisively took the lead in opening up the city and surrendering to the Qing army. He even took the lead in shaving his hair after the order was given. When Zhu Yihai came back later, he immediately wrote a letter to contact Anli.
Surrender.
When the emperor needed him to be a loyal and loyal eagle, and asked him to supervise the impeachment, and even bite the former Donglin Restorationist Party members, he did not hesitate. With these, he has survived until now, and can even go all the way.
Entering the Central Prime Minister's Office will give you the title of lifelong county duke.
But when an era is about to abandon you, it will be useless no matter how hard you try.
For Qian Qianyi, his biggest fear is Emperor Shaotian. It is a fear from the bottom of his heart, because facing this young emperor, in the past, he had the ability to deceive, fool, confuse Chongzhen, Hongguang and even many others.
Ergon's skills were all useless.
When he got along with Emperor Shaotian, he always felt that he was seen through by him without reservation.
Qian Qianyi wanted to retreat bravely, but he said three words in a row.
But now the emperor remains silent.
He felt that something bad was going on. If the emperor was willing to allow him to become an official, he could have a good death and a decent death, but now maybe the emperor is not even willing to give him this dignity.
Thinking of his beautiful wife, the huge business of the Qian family, and thinking that he had ignored his reputation all these years, but might end up with an unhappy death, Qian Qianyi wanted to cry without tears.
There is a feeling of despair.
But he was somewhat unwilling to give up and always wanted to find a way out.
His mind kept spinning, thinking about why there was such a big change suddenly and where his chance of survival was. As long as he could guess the emperor's true motives, he might be able to find a chance of survival.
"Go to the palace tomorrow and pay homage to Consort Ruan and the others."
Liu Rushi asked, "Do you want me to make some insinuations to get some information?"
Qian Qianyi felt that this was probably not possible. He looked at his beloved wife and held her hand tightly, "If my guess is correct, I am afraid that this time I, and even the Qian family, will not be able to escape. It is very likely that
We will end up with the same fate as Zuo Guangxian, Chen Zilong, Hou Xun, Hou Fangyu, Zheng Sanjun, etc. Now maybe you are the only one who can save us."
Liu Rushi was stunned.
She looked at her husband's expectant and begging eyes, and suddenly understood the deeper meaning.
Liu Rushi and the current emperor were born in the same year, and they are both thirty-six years old this year. As one of the ten beauties of Qinhuai, Liu Rushi is indeed the most beautiful in the world. Even though she is thirty-six, she has more charm and temperament. She was two years old back then.
Married to 59-year-old Qian Qianyi at the age of thirteen, and they have been together for thirteen years in the blink of an eye.
The two also have a lovely daughter, Sun Xin, and I never expected that he would have such an idea.
Even though it came from the Qinhuai River, her husband's thoughts shocked her.
She fell silent.
Qian Qianyi held his wife's hand and prayed.
"I'm old. It doesn't matter if I die, but I'm afraid that the Qian family will be implicated. Sun Ai, Sun Xin, and you and I can't worry about it. Especially Sun Xin, who is only twelve years old. If the Qian family breaks down,
, it is impossible to escape the fate of being sent to Yongning Temple and the armored slaves..."
Hearing him talk about his daughter, Liu Rushi's heart ached.
She has experienced ups and downs in her life. Due to poverty in her childhood, she was robbed and sold to Wujiang as a maid in Jiaxing. When she was young, she fell into a brothel in Zhangtai. She traveled between Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Jinling in troubled times, and was later sold to the former Cabinet University of Chongzhen.
The scholar Zhou Daodeng married Zhou Daodeng, who was over sixty years old, as his concubine. As a result, Zhou's wife roared like a lion in the east of the river and almost died under the knife of the jealous woman.
After Zhou's death, she was kicked out of Zhou's family at the age of fourteen, forced to leave the court, and became a singing prostitute. Later, she fell in love with Chen Zilong, a famous scholar in Donglin, and became a housewife, but was married to Zhang by Chen Zilong.
He led people to the South Tower, but Chen Zilong didn't defend him, so he had no choice but to break up due to heartache.
Later, she met Qian Qianyi, the Minister of Rites, and was finally moved by his talent and sincerity. She married him as a second marriage. Thirteen years later, she was making soup, serving her husband wholeheartedly, and gave birth to a daughter. Unexpectedly, she gave birth to a daughter.
Now he actually made such a request.
She was both angry and heartbroken, but then she thought about her twelve-year-old daughter. When she thought that if the Qian family building collapsed, there would be no intact eggs in the nest. She had lived a difficult life, and she didn't want her daughter to have another chance.
Repeat it again.
She broke free from her husband's hand, put it back in her sleeve, gritted her teeth and told her husband: "Okay, I will go to the palace tomorrow, and I will send someone to take me there."
When Qian Qianyi heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief, but quickly grabbed his wife's hand and opened his mouth to explain.
"Sir, I'm tired. I want to close my eyes and rest for a while. When I get to the manor, I'll wake me up." After saying that, she closed her eyes and ignored Qian Qianyi's open mouth.
Qian Qianyi's worries are not unnecessary.
Even his intuition is indeed very keen.
In the Wuying Palace in the Forbidden City, Zhu Yihai was playing chess with the prince. There were only two people in the palace, father and son. He told his son his plan without any concealment.
"If my father doesn't trust Hong Chengchou, Qian Qianyi, Wu Sangui, national treasure Li Yuchun, Ma Guozhu and others, why don't you just let them become officials or change them to idle positions? Wouldn't it be simpler?"
"I have my own considerations. In fact, it is very simple for me to get rid of these people. I can even do it without them noticing. But I don't just want to take away their official positions, and I don't just want to remove them.
They, what I really want to do is to end the chaos anyway, to let the people of the world understand that some things are wrong and some things are right. When the world was in chaos and the situation forced us to unite and fight, but now that the world is stable, this
Sometimes you still have to distinguish between right and wrong.”
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Qian Qianyi was once the leader of Donglin, the leader of the imperial court, and even held a high position in the center, but he directly surrendered Nanjing City and took the lead in shaving his head. This is nothing different.
It is a heinous crime for destroying the will of the people of the world to resist the invaders."
"Hong Chengchou was a rare minister of the Chongzhen Dynasty who could be both civil and military. He was deeply trusted by Chongzhen. He worshiped the prime minister as his commander and handed over the military power of the country to him. He was defeated and captured in Songjin. It was a loss of troops and humiliation for the country, but he did not die. But.
After being captured, he not only surrendered, but also offered strategies for the Tatars to destroy the Ming Dynasty. He also personally persuaded and instigated rebellion in Jiangnan, Huguang and other places, recruited rebels to surrender, and even severely attacked the Ming martyrs who resisted the Qing Dynasty. This is all unforgivable."
"Not to mention Wu Sangui. He surrendered the captives at Shanhaiguan and lured the Tatars to Beijing. He also led the Guanning Army, which the imperial court spent countless national resources to build, to serve as the Tatar vanguard.
Righteous man, how can these blood debts be eliminated?"
"I didn't kill them before. It was forced by the situation and was an expedient measure. Now that it's time to settle the accounts, I want to tell all those who come after me that there are some things that cannot be done and there is no chance."
The prince held the chess piece and pondered for a long time, and asked: "But if my father goes back to the old score, won't he be suspected of breaking his promise? Then where will the court's trust be in the future?"
"Prince, there is nothing that has the best of both worlds, it's just a matter of weighing the pros and cons and choosing the lesser. Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty, killed meritorious officials, and I, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, also killed meritorious officials. Do you think they don't know the dangers of killing meritorious officials?
But as a king, you must make a balance."
"If I don't kill people like Hong Chengchou, Wu Sangui, and Qian Qianyi, but let these people serve as Dukes, Grand Scholars, and Governors, how will that make future generations feel? They will feel that it doesn't matter what they do, even if they are betrayed,
But there is still a chance to turn back.”
"This is wrong. The red line must be drawn clearly. If betrayal cannot be punished, what is the point of loyalty?"
"I will not assassinate them, nor will I allow them to resign and become officials, nor will I let them commit suicide. They must be formally tried. Although doing so will have some bad effects on me and the court, there are two evils.
Whichever is less,"
"Don't worry, I will do all the things that need to be done before you officially take over."
The prince was not yet strong enough to accept this cruel theory, "What about other people, such as those in Shunying and Xiying, or former pirates, bandits, etc.?"
"I will cleanse them from the beginning to the end, and I will punish them according to their past crimes. Those who deserve to be killed will be killed, those who deserve to be demoted will be demoted, and those who deserve to be dismissed will not be polite. Of course, if the past crimes are not serious, I will also
If you are pardoned or given a light punishment, I will make a comprehensive inventory of the old accounts and deal with them. After I deal with them, you can write them off in the future."
"Prince, Ci is not in charge of the army, but to rule a country and govern the world, let alone benevolence and righteousness. If you want to achieve great governance after a great chaos, there are some things that must be completely overthrown, otherwise the new order will be established.
How do I re-establish it?”
He threw down the chess pieces, stood up and patted the prince on the shoulder, then walked slowly in the palace with his cane.
"Qin Shihan, Wu Tang Zong, Song Zu, and I, Emperor Taizu of Ming Dynasty, each of them established great achievements, not because of their kindness, and they are by no means saints. They all have clear goals and
Perseverance and perseverance.
Qin Shihuang unified the six kingdoms, and how many people were killed? But it ended hundreds of years of great strife, and the world was unified. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty used the power of his country to defeat half of the world, and it took him decades to defeat the Xiongnu, but in exchange for
The Han Dynasty flourished for hundreds of years.
Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty killed his brothers, imprisoned his father, and even took away his brothers' wives. He also killed many members of the clan. However, he defeated the Turks, conquered Goguryeo, and opened the imperial examination. His achievements will last forever. Song Taizu also took away the inheritance of the orphans and widowed mothers of the Later Zhou Dynasty.
, I, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, also served as the leader of the Red Scarf Army, King Xiao Ming..."
"To achieve great things, one must distinguish priorities and clearly understand the pros and cons."
The prince was heartbroken when he heard these words. These words kept impacting his thoughts.
"In fact, many things in this world are not simply about distinguishing right from wrong, but about distinguishing between pros and cons. Especially for the emperor and the court, you should always remember one thing. Being an emperor does not mean that you need to be a saint, and you will never become an emperor.