Chapter 9: Qian Hu Leaves the Capital

  On the second day after Wei Zhongxian left Beijing, Chen Xin stood in front of the Ministry of War again to receive his thousand-household certificate and imperial edict. Several civil officials from the Ministry of War saw him and even took the initiative to greet him, treating him very differently from before. When he met Qian Yuanyan again, Qian was all smiles and no longer required Chen Xin to kneel. Although Chen Xin was still a broken military household, everyone in the capital praised him at this time. Qian Yuanyan had been outsmarted by Chen Xin that day, but he had impeached Wei Zhongxian at the last moment, so his future was also very bright. He even thanked Chen Xin for those words, which allowed him to barely gain the reputation of being a pioneer in opposing Wei Zhongxian.

  "Brother Chen, the matter of your promotion has been settled. As soon as Secretary Huang saw it was you, he immediately approved it. You can pick up the appointment letter today." Qian Yuanyi smiled and nodded at Chen Xing, no longer addressing him as "Chen Baihu".

  Chen Xin returned the courtesy and said: "Thank you, Master Qian."

  Qian Yuanhui approached Chen Xindao with a familiar air and said, "Brother Chen has a strong sense of justice, and many Japanese officials have offended him. I hope you will forgive them. Where have you been staying these days? If someone is being unreasonable to you, just let me know."

  "Governor Qian is being polite, but I'm not in a difficult situation. I've been traveling around various places in the capital. As a humble official from a remote and desolate place, it's hard to get to the capital once, so naturally I want to take a look around."

  Qian Yuanyi personally handed over the certificate of appointment to Chen Xing, and pretended to be close: "At present, Brother Chen is famous in the capital, directly criticizing the corrupt officials, and everyone admires him. Some time ago, there was a censor who impeached you for insulting a superior official, and it was an official above the third rank in Beijing. According to the Ming dynasty law, he should be flogged 100 times, but this impeachment has been left pending."

  Chen Xin was slightly surprised, he had not studied the Ming Code before, and did not know that the punishment for scolding an official was so severe. If he had been caught by Wei Zhongxian's gang a few days earlier, he would have been beaten to death with a hundred lashes.

  Qian Yuanyi continued: "Brother Chen, you don't know that later Qian Jiazheng of the Imperial Academy memorialized as a student and some officials thought he was violating regulations and demanded punishment. In the end, the Emperor said his merits and demerits balanced each other out and didn't punish him. Your case will be handled in the same way."

  Chen Xin finally felt at ease, which means that Chongzhen already knew about himself. With this reputation, it would be easy to do things even in Weihai. Song Wenxian's eyes shone brightly on the side, and his mood had slowly risen from the bottom to the top in recent days. He admired Chen Xin so much that he was convinced that this was all intentional, including the few assassins, who were likely Lu Zizhong and others. Now it seems that the effect is very good, even the emperor knows about this small thousand-household, saying that the merits and demerits are balanced, but the emperor must be secretly approving. Even Sun Guozhen and Qian Daotai may not dare to give Chen Xin a hard time in the future. Although there is no practical benefit for now, it will be very beneficial for the future.

  Chen Xin, as usual, quietly handed over a silver ingot to Qian Yuanyan, this Ministry of War official was truly a current manager. Chen Xin's intention that day was to force him to betray the party, so as not to create trouble for himself by promoting Qian to thousand households. Now Qian Yuanyan has benefited from misfortune and is just in time to form an alliance with him.

  As the two men walked out of the Ministry of War, Song Wenxian looked at Chen Xin with admiration: "General Qian's courage in snatching sesame seeds from the fire is indeed something I can't match, and his luck is also good. Even his mistake of insulting a superior has been offset. However, it seems that there are no actual benefits."

  Chen Xinxin secretly called out, fortunately, the remnants of the eunuch party were still there. If by chance they encountered someone from the eunuch party who was beaten with a hundred slaps, more than half would be finished off. Fortunately, Wei Zhongxian had fallen, and the leaders of the Imperial Guards and Eastern Depot knew that things were not going well, so recently they had all been lying low, and no one dared to come out and cause trouble. He said politely: "It's just good luck, but as for benefits, I don't see any at present. However, this reputation is capital, isn't it what those officials and censors are desperately fighting for?"

  Song Wenxian nodded and continued to ask, "Reputation is indeed a good thing, sometimes more useful than silver. Brother Chen, with your sharp eyesight, how many of Wei Zhongxian's followers do you think will be left?" Now everyone knows that Wei Zhongxian's power has gone, Song Wenxian no longer addresses him as "Your Excellency", but directly calls him by his name.

  "Of course, the emperor will thoroughly investigate and severely punish, eliminating all evil. The main officials in the capital who relied on Wei Zhongxian will certainly be dismissed, and the powerful figures outside the capital will also be replaced."

  Song Wenxian was puzzled and said, "Wei Zhongxian has usurped the imperial power for many years. If local governors do not rely on him, how can they be stable? Can't we just replace all of them?"

  Chen Xin smiled and shook his head: "Of course not all of them can be replaced, I estimate that only one standard is used, whoever has set up a temple for Wei Zhongxian will lose their official position."

  Song Wenxian was stunned, and suddenly slapped himself in the face. When Chen Xin looked over at him with a strange expression, he heard this wicked scholar regretfully say: "That Li Song had already built a ancestral temple for Wei Zhongxian, so he must also be demoted from office. If I had known he would end up like this, I shouldn't have returned that 18,000 taels to him."

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  Two days later, Chen Xin of the Donglin Party quietly left Beijing. Before he left, he went to see Yang Wenguang once. Yang Wenguang was as in history, with two heads being good. He was originally a member of the eunuch party, but after Wei Zhongxian's downfall, he became the first person to turn against the eunuchs. Moreover, because he had been stabbed, it seemed that he had abandoned darkness and turned to brightness, and had returned from a wrong path. At that time, Chen Xin also scolded Cui Chengxiu, but did not cause him any trouble. Yang Wenguang was still grateful for Chen Xin's lifesaving kindness, and told him that if he came to Beijing in the future, he must come to his house as a guest. Chen Xin naturally played up to him, flattering him greatly, and also gave him a gift of 100 taels of silver, which made Yang Wenguang have an even better impression of him.

  Chen Xin turned his head to take a look at the tall Guangqu Gate, no one came to see him off. He had been in the capital for a month and although he had gained fame, it was not yet possible to convert it into actual benefits. The opportunity for speculation had already been used up, and the future prospects would have to rely on his own strength to slowly fight for.

  Leaving Qin Lüfang in the capital, Chen Xin and seven others divided into two groups, met outside the city gate, and arrived at Zhangjiawan on the same day. Originally, they could have taken a land route that didn't go through Zhangjiawan, but Chen Xin wanted to come recruit porters. The group stayed overnight at Zhangjiawan, and since it was too cold outside, no one wanted to venture out again after dinner. After eating, Song Wenxian came to Chen Xin's room, where he saw Chen Xin frowning, holding a book, using his finger to dip in some tea water to draw something on the table, with several other books also placed on the table. Chen Xin was very focused, and didn't even look up when Song Wenxian entered.

  Song Wenxian curiously picked up a book, and upon seeing the cover, it was "The Real Record of Military Training" (Note 1). A page was also folded over. Song Wenxian casually flipped open the folded page, which read "Volume Three: General's Auspicious Appointment". He took a glance at the beginning section, which was all about auspicious timing for taking office. He guessed that it must have been bought by Chen Xin in the capital, waiting to be used when he takes office as a commander.

  The military officers of the Ming Dynasty, all those who are literate, have to buy one or two books by Qi Jiguang. The "Jixiao Xinshu", "Lianbing Shiji" and "Lianbing Shiji Zaj" currently available on the market are basically the engraved versions from the second year of Tianqi (1622).

  Song Wenxian curled his lip and threw the book back onto the desk. This military man had no interest in reading books. He asked Chen Xin, "Has Commander Qian set a auspicious date?"

  Chen Xin looked up at Song Wenxian: "We'll have to go back and take a look, we left in such a hurry, I don't know if the Weihai River has frozen over. If the boat is stuck, then we can only take the land route to Weihai."

  Song Wenxian shook his head and said, "I was asking Brother Chen about your personal affairs. When did you take office as the real job hundred households? Won't it be like Commander Qi choosing an auspicious time?"

  Chen Xin listened to his veiled sarcasm, but didn't get angry. He put down the book and smiled: "The wedding will be soon, but I think Sun Gong and Zhong Gong are too busy to care about my family matters now."

  Song Wenxian's current master is Sun Guozhen, but Song Wenxian has no loyalty to this master at all. This Sun Guozhen may also be a eunuch party member. The position of Dengzhou Governor is so important that he probably won't last long either. Once Chen Xin gains a foothold in Weihaiwei, the share can be reduced a bit.

  Song Wenxian saw that Chen Xin's eyes were darting back and forth, and the things he could use to cooperate with Chen Xin were getting fewer and fewer. Chen Xin's strength was getting stronger and stronger, just by looking at him going to recruit trackers tomorrow, it was clear that he wanted to cultivate his own men. When the time came, the people on the boat would be replaced, and Song Wenxian would have to rely on Chen Xin's favor to eat. The 50/50 account of the past was unthinkable now. However, at present, Chen Xin was only a low-ranking official, and cooperating with him was possible, but relying on him seemed too humiliating, it would be laughed at by others if it got out, so Song Wenxian did not have this intention for the time being.

  Now that Lord Zhong is the Hai Fang Dao, he has asked Chen Xin's family to move to Dengzhou, and it must be done. If he follows Li Song and Sun Guozhen in their misfortune, then Song Wenxian would be delighted, although a new official would have to be bought off again, but the price definitely wouldn't exceed that of Lord Zhong, because of his relationship with Zhao Dong's household back then, this person is very clear about the profits from sea trade, and can't be deceived. Now he has occupied more than 30% of the shares, if another Hai Fang Dao were to come, perhaps an even lower price could buy him off.

  Song Wenxian thought of this and tentatively asked Chen Xin, "Brother Chen, the family still needs to be sent to Dengzhou. However, if Brother Chen can't bear to part with them, we can think of other ways."

  Chen Xin stared at Song Wenxian for a while before saying: "Mr. Song, are you suggesting that we do something about the temple where Wei Zhongxian was born?"

  Song Wenxian lightly clapped his hands: "Talking to Brother Chen is always easy, but Clock Dao Tai people are good, just a bit ruthless. If Brother Chen agrees, I can make another trip to the capital, but this matter of memorializing the emperor will require Brother Chen to find a way."

  Chen Xin knew he was referring to Yang Weizhong, who happened to be the Imperial Censor and also the vanguard of the Anti-Eunuch Party. It was very likely that his memorial would be successful. Chen Xin had originally planned to maintain a relationship with Yang Weizhong, after all, he had taken such great risks to get close to him, so naturally, he should make more moves at ordinary times.

  "This is feasible, but the memorial of Sheng Temple should be submitted by Li Song, how can we drag Zhong Daotai into the water?"

  Song Wenxian smiled slyly: "The memorial was indeed submitted by Li Song, but the location of that ancestral temple is in Shuicheng."

  Chen Xin thought for a moment and said: "The Water City is indeed under the jurisdiction of the Sea Defense Road, and it makes some sense to put them together."

  "It's not just reasonable, in those years Li Song was the governor of Dengzhou, he and the governor of Shandong jointly submitted a memorial to the emperor, and built two ancestral temples, one in Jinan and one in Dengzhou. The temple in Dengzhou was built next to the Penglai Pavilion, and Emperor Xi Zong gave it the name Liu Hong Temple. The supervisor of this construction project was Zhong Dao Tai, who worked hard day and night, but he was eventually pulled down into the water, which was a foregone conclusion."

  Chen Xin also sneered and said: "In this way, the shares of these adults will all be saved. But what if the new adult has an even bigger appetite?"

  Song Wenxian sneered, "Even if we change to a different official, would he know the profits of maritime trade? We ourselves don't even know, and yet we have to send him one or two thousand taels of silver every year. He'll treat us as honored guests, unlike now when we still have to send our families over."

  "Mr. Song is right, then please have Mr. Song organize it and write it down, and I'll find someone to deliver it to Magistrate Yang later. The extra copies will certainly be given to Mr. Song." Chen Xin thought for a moment, for now he still couldn't leave Song Wenxian behind, this person was familiar with the official circles and local situations, and Chen himself lacked such a person, so he would use money to buy him over first, and when the time came, he would naturally follow him.

  Song Wenxian is satisfied, Sun Guozhen is said to be a eunuch party, if the great Zhong falls together, there will not be a single great one left, just need to spend a little money to buy off several naval generals, actually with the same effect as now. Every year, give some more respect to the new great ones, and still save a lot. So Zhong Daotai is definitely to be hit, if it's wrong, blame him for taking too much share.

  Song Wenxian was delighted at first, but then felt uneasy and said to Chen Xin: "Brother Chen, we came from the same boat, if by any chance we can't overthrow Zhong Dao, let's not mention this matter again in the future."

  Chen Xin swore to heaven that he would not reveal any secrets. Song Wenxian still trusted the oath and put his mind at ease, but then remembered what had happened earlier. "We should prepare for both possibilities. Your marriage cannot be delayed. When I came, Lord Zhong specifically instructed me to bring you back to Dengzhou. Those who can hold local office also have some connections in the capital. In case Lord Zhong doesn't fall from power, we still need to get along with him."

  Chen Xin still said in his usual tone: "Hurry up, hurry up."

  Song Wen Xian's face was filled with curiosity: "Brother Chen, where is that beauty of yours? Why have I never heard you mention her before?"

  "Of course not, because I've never seen it before."

  "Ah, then how will you get married? Is it an arranged marriage?"

  "No!"

  "What about you? Who are you going to marry?"

  Chen Xin smiled slyly and said: "You'll know tomorrow."

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  Note 1: Qi Jiguang's main military works "Ji Xiao Xin Shu" and "Lian Bing Shi Ji", which have been introduced many times, will not be repeated here. "Lian Bing Shi Ji Za Ji" was written after "Lian Bing Shi Ji" and roughly in the early years of Wanli. Later, when it was printed, it was placed in "Lian Bing Shi Ji", but also had a separate publication, with a total of six volumes. Among them, "Chu Lian Tong Lun", "Jiang Guan Dao Ren Bao Jian" and "Deng Tan Kou Shou" three volumes mainly discuss the requirements for generals, with many improvements and supplements to "Lian Bing Shi Ji".

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