Brocade tears

April [-]th, Shenzheng, Tonghui River Wharf in the southeast of Beijing.

It was already late, and most of the ships on the pier were ships that stopped sailing to unload after arriving. These ships were all cargo ships escorted by the government and army. They transported rice, silk cloth and other materials from various provinces to Beijing along the canal, all of which were under the management of the Governor of Water Transport.In addition to the official and military ships, there are still many merchant and civilian ships sailing on the Cao River, and there is not a single ship ready to set off at this time.

There is a very special type of boat on the canal, that is, the tribute boat, which is a fast boat that transports fresh tribute.It is mainly undertaken by some small and fast yellow boats and horse clippers.The original function was to "reserve water wars, just in case".After Chengzu moved his capital to Beijing, most of the daily necessities needed in the palace were transferred from the south, and Nanjing became the place where tributes from the south of the Yangtze River were purchased.In order to deliver tribute items to the court in time, yellow and horse clippers became the preferred ships, "use yellow clippers to load tribute, and set up transport ships to carry grain".Fresh plums, tender tea, shad, lotus root, loquat, citrus and other highly perishable foods are delivered by these express ships. The yellow and horse express ships have also become the most privileged ships on the canal. An official and military ship that transports grain.

At the beginning, it was stipulated that yellow and horse clippers were not allowed to be entrained. The so-called "no one can ride, no things can be loaded", only the tribute, the procurement staff who escorted the tribute, and the boatman who drove the ship can board.However, until now, Huang and Ma Clippers have been illegally carrying excessive loads and taking advantage of opportunities. As long as it is profitable, those guards who escort the tribute will try their best to take advantage of the loopholes.Most of the escorts were procured by the Internal Officials Supervision in Nanjing. They were all eunuchs. These people bullied others and disrupted the waterway. Powerful, extorting property, bullying officials, forcing the army, civilians, officials, and divisions to pay for settlements, they are all called "imperial things". People dare not stop them, and they are full of complaints.

As far as the government is concerned, every spring, when the tribute ships go north from Nanjing, there are as many as 60 replacements of husbands and servants on the way.As far as the common people are concerned, it is also unspeakably miserable. During the Jiajing period, Lu Can once recorded in his "Guest Extravagance": "Wei Renyu and Clippers are all frowning. He has a lot of money and is on a business trip. And those who have nothing but four walls.”

Meng Kuang, who was a Jinyi guard of the patrol station, also walked through the section of the Caobei Canal once, and went down to Weixigu, Tianjin.She has some understanding of the disadvantages of water transport.It's just that she didn't expect that when they went to Hangzhou this time, they would also call it a horse clipper.She obviously went out of the city to escape from the hunt, but she was riding a fast boat under the banner of an imperial envoy, which made her feel very awkward.

Horse Clippers are actually two kinds of ships, but the common people don't know the difference and call them mixed.The horse boat transports horses, and the fast boat transports baggage, which are two separate types of ships. In wartime, they will form two fleets.Only in non-wartime, these two kinds of clippers are collectively called horse clippers.The boat Meng Kuang and the others took on this trip was originally a horse boat, which had a special livestock cabin for managing livestock, so their carts and horses could board the boat.

The horse boat will not depart tonight, and it will not be released until the scheduled sailing time tomorrow.Although there is a post station near the ferry, Meng Yan, Sui Er and Bai Yuyin are civilian girls and cannot stay there. Therefore, Meng Kuang and others will have to stay on the boat from tonight.

When boarding the ship, Meng Kuang first put Meng Yan, Sui Er and Bai Yuyin into the cabin and settled down.The cargo hold on this horse boat occupies most of the space, and a considerable part of the northern cargo has been escorted, and it is preparing to go south.There are only four rooms on the ship for people to live in, of which the upper two rooms are for imperial envoys.There are two lower rooms, which can accommodate 14 people and are used by boatmen.Naturally, the upper room is reserved for Meng Kuang and others.Since Meng Kuang is an "unmarried man" on the face of it, she cannot share a room with three unmarried women, so she can only share a room with Guo Dayou, and Meng Yan, Sui'er and Bai Yuyin share a room.Fortunately, the beds in this room are like the northern kang bunks, and people can sleep side by side, so it is not crowded for three people.

After settling the three girls, out of habit, she planned to go to the deck to inspect the environment and structure of the entire ship, and to determine what countermeasures she should adopt when the ship was in danger.Unexpectedly, as soon as he got on the deck, he saw a man in the uniform of an internal officer carrying a woman in a skirt and jacket along the gangway of the ship onto the deck. Surprised.

Isn't this person the same officer who assisted Sui'er to leave the palace to buy Lu Jingshi?The woman in civilian clothes behind him should be his disheveled servant—the court lady Han Jiaer.

Lu Jingshi also caught sight of her, but quickly lowered his eyes and looked away.And the woman in civilian clothes was wearing a headscarf, staring at her feet from head to tail, following closely behind Lu Jingshi, never raising her head.The two behaved a little sneakily, as if they were on guard for something.

Meng Kuang heard footsteps behind him, looking back, Guo Dayou walked over.He greeted him with a smile and said:

"Jian Lu, when did you leave the city? How did you get here?"

Lu Jingshi smiled, and replied, "I left the city this morning through Deshengmen. There were a lot of people at that time, and we saw you, but you must have paid no attention to us. After we left the city, we took a cargo truck When the car came to the ferry, it walked a bit slower, not as fast as you."

"You imperial envoy, the treatment is really not good." Guo Dayou teased.

Lu Jingshi smiled wryly: "If it wasn't for your and Luo Qianhu's help, I would have been kicked out of the internal prison. How could I bring my wife out to take the post in Nanjing? This is a secret trip, so it's good to have this condition You and Luo Qianhu have done us a life-saving kindness, and it is hard to repay us.”

It turned out that this time Lu Jingshi and Han Jiaer had to rely on the help of Zhang Cheng, the eunuch who was in charge of the ceremonies, and Zhang Shufu, the junior supervisor of the internal officials, to leave the palace quietly without the knowledge of Chen Ju.I don't know how Luo Xun persuaded Zhang Cheng. Although Zhang Cheng had sent Liu Kenan, the Nanya Jinyi Guard, to stop Sui'er from leaving the city, his attitude changed later. Lu Jingshi, who was the only one who cared about in the palace, and Han Jiaer made the palace together.This time Lu Jingshi went to Nanjing to take up his post as the Internal Supervisor, and he and Han Jiaer will live in Nanjing in the future.

"Just follow me, I know the relationship between you and Li Huier, she is on the boat, you go and meet her."

Guo Dayou brought Lu Jingshi and Han Jiaer into the cabin, and Meng Kuang followed behind them.The door opened, and when Sui'er saw Lu Jingshi and Han Jia'er, she was so surprised that she wept with joy, it was really moving.She couldn't help but stepped forward to hug Han Jiaer, and then tightly grasped Lu Jingshi's arm. The three palace servants who used to depend on each other in the palace all shed tears and were speechless for a while.

Guo Dayou left Lu Jingshi and Han Jiaer in the house to catch up with Sui Er, and led Meng Kuang to the deck.The two stood on the deck, looking at the scene of the Tonghui River ferry lined with sails and masts and busy boats at dusk and sunset, Guo Dayou was so sad for a moment that he even sighed and recited:

"Flowers near high-rise buildings hurt the hearts of guests, and it is difficult to climb here. The spring scenery of the Jinjiang River comes to the world, and the floating clouds on the jade base change from ancient to modern. The North Pole Court will never change, and the Western Mountain bandits will not invade each other. The poor queen returns to the temple, and the sun is setting. Liang Fuyin."

Meng Kuang was really surprised. Guo Dayou is a typical warrior. Although he is very intelligent, he doesn't read much and his education level is limited.But I didn't expect to hear him recite Du Zimei's poems today, it is really very fresh.It's just that the mood expressed in this song "Climbing the Tower" is really sad and gloomy. The so-called "thousands of troubles", "North Pole court" and "Xishan bandits" are really suitable for the occasion. The times we live in are ordinary, the prosperity is no longer, is it hard to return?

"Hehehehe, if I recite this poem in front of some officials, I'm afraid I will be impeached right now." Guo Dayou joked.

Meng Kuang didn't know what to say, and his emotions were so complicated that he couldn't express it with gestures.

"Thirteen, you can't talk, it's really good, just listen to me quietly, I'm really panicked." Guo Dayou said, Meng Kuang rarely sees him so depressed, just listen to him road:

"During this time, I have done a lot of things with my elder brother, but I didn't have time to tell you.

First of all, what you saw today, Zhan Yu arrested the Nine-Finger Wang Candang in front of Li Rusong. This is my idea for him. In fact, the whereabouts of the Nine-Finger Wang Candang have been found out a few days ago Now, I told him not to rush to arrest people, but to use this incident to pave the way for his own future. Although this kid is very stubborn, he can still listen to some words.In order to impress Li Rusong on him, he deliberately seized the time to arrest Jiuzhiwang and others. Jiuzhiwang and others had planned to assassinate Li Rusong today, so they put on a good show at Deshengmen.

This is second, the key is the hiding place of the Nine Fingers Remnant Party, do you know where it is?No wonder so many people searched the city for such a long time, and these Tatars could not be found. They hid in other warehouses that were not burned down in Nanxin warehouse, and there were ready-made grains in them to eat. No problem for a long time.Nanxincang has been blocked since the fire, and officers and soldiers will not enter it to search for it. It is really dark under the lights.But now everyone can see how lax the management of Nanxincang is such an important military salary bank.Even when it was bombed by foreign enemies, it was still unattended, which is incredible!Those officials who were full of food all day long and only knew how to drown people by spitting are now starting to write impeachment memorials again, but the Holy Majesty didn't care about it, and it seemed that he didn't feel bad after burning three urns.He turned a blind eye to the daily shortage of rations on the front line in Ningxia.

A few days ago, Commander Luo went to the palace to meet the Holy Spirit, because even the scout troops sent by Jin Yiwei to the front had reported that the military food was in short supply.However, the Holy Majesty was very drunk that day and was playing with the imperial concubine.Commander Luo waited outside for three hours, until his legs were stiff, before he was announced in.In the end, he was kicked out without saying a word, and urged Commander Luo to take Li Huier back as soon as possible. He only had beauty in his mind!I really didn't get anything done, and I was reprimanded.In such an extraordinary period, the six ministries of the cabinet have all turned into spinning tops, but the frontier officials in the rebellious area are still in a state of disunity, independent and difficult to coordinate.The first assistant, Zhao Zhigao, was getting old, and it was difficult for him to come forward to take care of things when he fell ill, so he relied entirely on the second assistant's position to make decisions.At this time, the Holy Majesty is completely indifferent, as if this world is not his world, why can he be such a joke as the Son of Heaven?

In fact, who doesn't understand, our sage has never grown up at all, it's just a child's temper.When Zhang Taiyue was around, he was suffocated, and when Zhang Taiyue was gone, he would act recklessly.He only knows how to lose his temper, just like a teenager who disobeys his elders. When the elders want him to go east, he wants to go west. He doesn't think about whether his actions are reasonable or what impact it will have.Ten years ago, when he was weak, the stagnation that had been accumulated for many years suddenly exploded, and the emperor laid down millions of corpses in a fit of anger. The once prosperous Zhang clan was instantly destroyed, and countless people were implicated.Now ten years have passed, and at the age of thirty, he still hasn't made any progress. He doesn't know what the consequences of his actions are, and he never thinks about them.

Did he think he could rest easy by sending Li Rusong to lead an army to help?It's not just Ningxia, the Japanese country is now eyeing us!Brother has been checking the Japanese ninjas who appeared that night in the Tianxiang Pavilion these days. There is reliable news that they have left the city and returned to the east.These days, my eldest brother has also received letters of help from the islands and fishing boats near North Korea. The Wa country has mobilized troops to gather at the seaports of Settsu, Harima, and Izumi, ready to go.The news does not seem to be fake. The specific location and the number of people are still unknown.But no one in the DPRK cared about it. The elder brother reported the matter to the commander, and the commander also reported it to the Ministry of War and the cabinet, but there was no response.

The Wa country has been unified by Taiko Toyotomi Hideyoshi in recent years, and it is the time when the military strength is unprecedentedly strong.However, they are loosely united by the lords of various domains, and their foundation is still unstable. They urgently need to launch a foreign war to divert internal conflicts. At this time, gathering a large army to fight against North Korea is by no means their ultimate goal. North Korea is barren, and their real goal is my land of prosperity.Only bold and attractive promises can mobilize the enthusiasm of those vassal lords to send troops to attack. North Korea is weak, with serious party struggles, and there is no possibility of resistance. If we don't take countermeasures as soon as possible, we will miss the best opportunity for war!

well!No one realizes that the crisis is imminent, this imperial court is really like the North Star in the poem, not only is it stable and unshakable, it is simply unchanging! "

This is not the first time Meng Kuang has heard Guo Dayou's analysis of Japan and North Korea, but she still has to sigh, how many people in North Korea can have such a profound study and judgment on the situation of the three countries like Guo Dayou?These thoughts are probably the conclusions he and Luo Xun have come to after collecting intelligence from other countries over the years. They really deserve to be the most outstanding inspector guards in Ming Dynasty.Guo Dayou seldom commented on the emperor, and now there are many disrespectful words in his words. If outsiders hear him, he will be punished.But he might have been depressed for a long time, and he couldn't vomit.

Guo Dayou let out a sigh of relief after venting, and finally smiled again.He patted Meng Kuang on the shoulder and said:

"Thirteen, I'll just say some complaints, you just listen to them. But in times of crisis, we must be vigilant. We Jinyiwei are Daming's eyes and ears, and we should never close our eyes and ears."

Meng Kuang took out his shorthand and pen, and wrote: Are you disappointed?If you are disappointed, why do you have to be so loyal? If the superiors don’t pay attention to it, there is nothing we can do about it.

Guo Dayou was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and smiled: "Thirteen, this is not called loyalty. This land is not only the world of Zhu's family, but also your home and my home. If the robber knocks on the door, don't you draw your sword? Don't you just want to see it?" Do you want to watch your family members being killed? Once Meng Yuan became the master of this land, and we waited for the Han people to be bullied. Now, do you want the Japanese to take over the world?"

Yes, the answer is of course no.