Volume 3: The Richest Man in the World Chapter 55 Zhu Gui Returns to Beijing
Guangzhou, Panjiayuan.
Pan Youjie was watching a play when suddenly someone hurriedly delivered a letter.
Pan Haigen took it, looked at the seal, and quickly passed it to Pan Youjie.
Pan Youjie said, "Tear it down."
Pan Haigen opened it and handed it over.
Pan Youjie glanced at it, sat up straight, folded the letter, thought for a while, then suddenly tore up the letter, threw it into the fruit plate, and gave a look.
Pan Haigen knew what that meant, so he lit a torch and burned the torn paper.
Watching the flames rise and then go out, Pan Youjie stopped staring and turned to the stage to continue watching the show.
The connections that Pan Youjie had buried in Beijing were deeper than those of Wu Chengjian, so he could see what Wu Chengjian could see, and even some things that Wu Chengjian could not see .
Since his vision is far-sighted, any of his actions will have hidden meanings.
In the Shuntian Prefecture prison.
Wu Chengjian said: "If Qi Guan does not take the lead, or tries to delay and resist, then He Shen will be greatly restrained in whatever he wants to do in Guangzhou. If the Pan family does not move, the Lu family will not move either. If the Pan and Lu family do not move, the Ye family will not move either. In this way, He Shen's plan to provoke the Wu family to cause external trouble will be difficult to carry out."
The Wu family's internal troubles have been resolved. If Pan Youjie can also resolve the external pressure...
Zhou Yijin narrowed his eyes and smiled: "If that's the case, then we are not completely powerless. We still have a chance to fight this business war - that's good, that's good!"
Wu Chengjian and Zhou Yijin talked for a long time in this cold and damp cell. Finally, the jailer who had received the benefit could not bear it any longer and came over to urge them to talk. Wu Qi stuffed another ingot of silver in the room. The jailer complained, "You are two grown men, not husband and wife. Why do you have so much to say? It seems like you can never finish talking!"
He still gave Yinliang some face, but stared at him: "Hurry up, hurry up!"
Wu Chengjian also knew that he couldn't stay for long, so he said to Zhou Yijin, "I have to go now. I don't know if I can come in again. Do you have anything else to tell me?"
Zhou Yijin pondered for a moment and said, "I have been thinking about it day and night in this prison, and I have gained a lot. With the news you brought today, I am about 70% sure."
He pulled Wu Chengjian closer, put his lips to his ear, and said, "The White Lotus Sect is an internal threat, and the British in Macau are an external threat. Heshen has the ability to deal with them, but he drags his feet. Why is that? There must be a big change in the palace. The change in the palace must come from the body of the retired emperor. Once the retired emperor dies, how will Heshen deal with himself? Under the system of the Qing Dynasty, it is impossible for Heshen to usurp the throne. Since this road is blocked, he can only watch the transfer of power. The emperor of Taiping will definitely not tolerate powerful ministers. Only when there is instability inside and outside, no silver in the treasury, and no civil and military officials, can he rely on important ministers. These internal and external troubles were deliberately left to Emperor Jiaqing by Heshen."
Wu Chengjian smiled coldly: "He is playing with fire!"
"Aren't you always playing with fire?" Zhou Yijin smiled softly: "Besides, does he have a better choice?"
Wu Chengjian was silent for a while, then leaned over to Zhou Yijin's ear and said, "Then what should we do?"
Zhou Yijin whispered in his ear: "You have to find a way to see the emperor, then you can live. Although we can't help him solve all the internal and external situations, if we can solve even a little bit of them, we will have the qualification to live."
The two of them took turns talking in each other's ears.
Wu Chengjian asked, "But how can I meet Zhu Gui? Your master?"
"No!" Zhou Yijin lowered his voice even more: "My master's side can only be a cover, a lead, not a real one..."
At this moment, the jailer came to urge again: "Hey, it's no use! Go, go!"
Wu Chengjian and Zhou Yijin knew they couldn't delay any longer. Just as they were about to part, Zhou Yijin pulled Wu Chengjian aside and whispered five words in his ear: "House of Internal Affairs! Guangxing!"
The jailer looked at Wu Chengjian and Zhou Yijin whispering to each other, and suddenly laughed. He said to Wu Qi beside him, "This person in the jail looks like your son's lover?"
Wu Qi was furious, thinking that the jailer was too rude. Wu Xiaojiu was also furious: Are you treating my master as a rabbit?
Wu Chengjian had already walked out, but he didn't look angry at all. He smiled and said, "Yes, he is the apple of my eye, so please take good care of him. Even if he loses a little scalp, I will be very sad."
During the Qianlong and Jiaqing years, it was very popular for wealthy families to keep a husband. Wu Chengjian looked young, Zhou Yijin was handsome, and they were not related to each other. If they were not related in this way, who would spend so much time and money to meet someone? After meeting, they were ambiguous and inseparable. The jailer really thought that the two were in this kind of relationship and laughed, "So that's it, so that's it. I thought so. Okay, I will take good care of him." He felt that he had caught the young man's handle, and it would be good for him in the future.
Wu Chengjian was also happy about this: "If he can get out of prison safely, I will reward him handsomely later."
After Wu Chengjian was released from prison, he was about to return to the guild hall. Suddenly, he saw people clearing the road on the street and quickly stepped aside. This was because a high-ranking official was coming to the capital. Officials had to clear the road wherever they went when they traveled. This was a common practice everywhere, but this was the capital. The county magistrate had to clear the road when traveling in the county he governed, and the prefect could clear the road when traveling in his prefecture. If they were in the provincial capital, they would not have the qualifications. When they came to the capital, even the high-ranking officials had to keep their heads down.
The scene in front of me, a convoy of carriages and horses coming from the south, officials and civilians all gave way to both sides, and there were yellow flags leading the way. What kind of people would come to Beijing to have such a grand ceremony? I think it was the triumphant return of Nian Gengyao, but there was no war now.
Wu Qi and Wu Chengjian were in tune with each other and had a quick mind. Without waiting for Wu Chengjian's instructions, he asked the person next to him: "Who is this? Which official or prince?"
Some of the common people in Beijing were well-informed, as if they all had super-hearing abilities, and could make a comment on the government. Then one well-informed person said, "No, it's not that. The emperor's teacher has returned to the capital, and the emperor sent his own imperial chariot out of the city to welcome the imperial teacher."
Wu Qi said "oh".
Wu Chengjian thought to himself, "Zhu Gui is back."
As the saying goes, Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Parents and Teachers are all important to students. When a teacher returns to the court, students should go out to welcome him. However, Jiaqing was the emperor after all, and it would have been too much of a commotion if he had gone out of the city in person to welcome him. So, as a compromise, he used the imperial sedan chair instead of going out of the city to welcome him himself. But even so, it was already a great honor for Zhu Gui.
Wu Chengjian was thinking, "Zhu Gui returned to the court at this time, and Heshen couldn't stop him. Moreover, Emperor Jiaqing even used the imperial sedan to welcome him. The scene was so grand. Did the emperor allow this?"
The yellow dragon flag passed first, followed by the imperial chariot, then Zhu Gui's carriage, followed by the guards, and then some of Zhu Gui's followers. Wu Chengjian had sharp eyes and caught a glimpse of a familiar face in the crowd.
"Oh, it's Master Cai!" Wu Qi also saw it and exclaimed, "What a coincidence."
Wu Chengjian thought to himself, "It's not a coincidence. Someone must be arranging the funeral."
In the Buddhist hall of the He Mansion, there were sounds of smashing and looting.
Ru porcelain and Jun porcelain were shattered into pieces, and millions of gold coins were gone in an instant.
All the servants moved twenty steps away, but even so, they could still faintly hear sounds like the howling of wild beasts coming from the Buddhist hall. The servants who occasionally heard the sound wished they could plug their ears and move away from it as far as possible.
Inside the Buddhist temple, Liu Quan knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face. He had never seen his master like this before: "My lord, my lord... Master, Master... Please don't be like this, please don't be like this..."
He Shen's eyes were full of blood, his cheeks were muscular, and he stared at the direction of the Forbidden City, uttering a few words from his throat: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty! I have served you for so many years, working hard and caring for you in every possible way, but in the end... you still arranged everything for me... Your Majesty, you are so cruel!"
Although he had already sent all the servants back dozens of steps away, Liu Quan still shouted in panic: "Master, Master, keep your voice down, keep your voice down!"
He Shen closed his eyes and gasped for a long time before asking, "Besides Zhu Gui, is there any other movement?"
Liu Quan thought for a moment and said, "Some short-sighted people have come to Zhu Gui's door, but they were all turned away." He reported seven or eight names, all of whom were relatives and important officials. He hesitated for a moment and finally added "Wu Chengjian".
He Shen asked again: "What about other provinces? What's the situation?"
"The others are fine, but there are five or six people who did not follow the master's secret orders." Liu Quan said and reported five or six names. They were either high-ranking officials or key military and financial officials. The last one was "Pan Youjie".
After hearing these names, Heshen took a few steps back and sat down on the chair.
Although he had made many arrangements and had controlled the government for the past two years, he had enormous power. But why did this power, which he had clearly grasped, become like a rootless tree floating on the water? The emperor was obviously deaf and blind, so why did such a small move shake the half of the empire he had worked so hard to build!
Suddenly, he thought of those people recorded in history: Yi Yin, Huo Guang, Zhuge Liang...
But soon the images of these people were shattered into powder like celadon on the ground, and replaced by other names: Liu Jin, Yan Song, Wei Zhongxian...
Heshen suddenly laughed, and his laugh was extremely bitter.
It turns out that Yihuo and Zhuge were just his own illusions. Is becoming a eunuch a eunuch his fate?
With a bang, the chair was kicked over. After He Shen stood up, his face was no longer happy, angry, sad, or sad, but only indifferent: "Liu Quan."
"Master, I'm here."
"Master will not give up and wait for death like this!" He Shen said: "We can't move Longhu for the time being, but these dogs and horses dare to bark! Do you really think that I, He Shen, am dead?"
