Chapter 4: Calmness

  On the second day, Chen Xin sent Lu Zizai and Hai Gouzai to gather information. Song Wenxian also planned to go out and find an old acquaintance who had worked as a staff member before. Chen Xin originally wanted to discuss military training with Dai Zhenggang and Zhu Guobin, but he was still uncertain about the trip to Beijing and didn't have the mood to talk about these things, so he followed Song Wenxian out of the door and headed towards Chongwen Gate, preparing to take a look around the inner city of Beijing.

  The inner city of Beijing has a circumference of 45 miles, with nine gates. The Nine Gate Commander of the Qing dynasty referred to the inner city. Chongwenmen is located in the southeast direction of the inner city and was one of the eight major customs gates during the Ming dynasty. A tax office was set up here, collecting nearly 90,000 taels of commercial taxes each year. As the capital connected with all parts of the country, Chongwenmen was also one of the most prosperous business areas in Beijing. The main street had two-story buildings built during the early Ming dynasty, which were rented to merchants by Daxing County for operation. The surrounding alleys were professional markets for certain types of goods, and many alleys got their names from this, such as Tieguo Alley, Mother Pig Alley, Shipboard Alley, etc.

  The streets were crowded with people, and the carriages were stuck in traffic. Chen Xin and his three companions were blocked several times. "Damn it, if only there was city management," Chen Xin cursed to himself after being blocked by several horse-drawn carriages again, even going back to the Ming Dynasty would be stuck in traffic. The four of them finally squeezed through from both sides, and after being stuck at the gate for a while, they finally entered the inner city.

  Just breathed a sigh of relief, but the front Chongwenmen Street was also crowded. Chen Xin's head hurt from looking at the crowds of people, and he turned to ask Song Wenxian: "Mr. Song, where are you going?"

  Song Wenxian wiped the fine sweat from his forehead: "I'm going to Dongtangzi Hutong, I can only walk along this main street."

  Chen Xin had no concept of these alleys and thought for a moment before asking: "Where are the places with many officials?"

  "Brother Chen, if you want to inquire about the matter of Na Jie, it's better to go to Qipan Street. The Ministry of War is located on the west side of Daming Gate (in front of Tiananmen Square), where there are many officials." Song Xian said, pointing forward, "Walking west from Dongjiaomin Lane in front will take you to Daming Gate."

  Chen Xin parted ways with Song Wenxian at Dongjiaomin Lane and headed west. The Dongjiaomin Lane he walked on was the famous Dongjiaomin Lane of later years, where more than two hundred years later, "My Great Qing" had a very creative idea to declare war on eleven countries after being extremely creative, sending tens of thousands of people to attack the embassies of various countries. Even more creatively, facing several hundred foreign soldiers, tens of thousands of people fought for two months without taking them down, and while fighting, they even delivered water and vegetables to the enemy. Attacking the embassy district was unprecedented, and not being able to take it down would probably lead to extinction. Every time Chen Xin thought about the stupid things "My Great Qing" had done, he became so angry that he couldn't bear it.

  The current Dongjiao Rice Alley is just an alley, because the original rice collection was on the riverbank, so it's called this name. The road is wider than Tianjin's main street, with many rice and grain shops on both sides, and people coming and going on the road. Several people walked west along Dongjiao Rice Alley for about two or three miles, and after finishing, they arrived at Damingmen Outer Street.

  "Damn it, we're finally here." Chen Xin had walked for several miles and was drenched in sweat. He had finally exited the alleyway and found himself on Chessboard Street. Looking around, he saw that the street was surprisingly wide, with the majestic Zhengyang Gate to the south and the unimpressive Daming Gate to the north. The east and west sides of the street were lined with shops, but what left Chen Xin stunned was that there were even more people here than at Chongwen Gate.

  "Brother Chen, Qipan Street is the most prosperous place in the capital." Dai Zhenggang said from behind, "I've heard it when I was a rickshaw puller, you're really famous."

  Chen Xindian nodded, no wonder the Beijing household registration is valuable, it turns out that there were many people in the Ming Dynasty. He looked at the majestic Damingmen Gate, which was like a large mountain temple, with a long corridor surrounded by red walls behind the gate, and the end of the corridor was the Tiananmen Gate later on, but it was not the emperor's residence at that time, only the entrance to the imperial city. On both sides of the corridor were the core power departments of the Ming court, including the Six Ministries, the Five Military Commissions, and the Imperial Guards.

  Chen Xin, seeing that it was almost lunchtime, chose a mid-range restaurant and went in. In the main hall, he asked for a table by the window and sat down. Before long, officials from the nearby Chessboard Street came out to eat lunch after finishing their morning shift. The street was filled with officials wearing uniforms, civil officials with bird-like decorations on their hats, and military officials with fierce beast-like decorations on their hats. The restaurant where Chen Xin was sitting also quickly became crowded, with a hubbub of noise filling the main hall.

  Chen Xin sat down behind two people, but they weren't wearing official robes. Chen Xin didn't mind and just listened to the surrounding officials' conversations, which were all some unseemly romantic nonsense. Just as he was about to lose hope, he suddenly heard the voices of the two people behind him rise slightly.

  "...When jackals and wolves roam the streets, can we avoid them and stay far away? With the wise Son of Heaven on the throne, as a son born to the imperial family, I need not speak further. Now that Lu Wan'ning, this scoundrel, has already been imprisoned, it is time to strike while the iron is hot."

  Chen Xin's attention immediately focused on behind him, Dai Zhenggang and Zhu Guobin were completely unaware, seriously dealing with the food in front of them.

  "Money brother, don't speak loudly. Have you forgotten the matter of the six gentlemen of Donglin? Are Tian Er'geng and Xu Xianchun under the command of Chancellor Cao ordinary people? In the imperial court, there are the Grand Secretaries above and the speaking officials and censors below. We monitors are not in a position to..."

  Previously, Qian brother interrupted him: "Wei Zhongxian has covered the sky with one hand, relying on his horse to scold people, poisoning and harming officials, and connecting them to scholars. He has destroyed all the integrity of the world. The social atmosphere has gradually declined, and nothing is more severe than this."

  Another person urged anxiously: "Everyone in the court knows that on the 24th of last month, Yang Suo, the right vice censor-in-chief of the Office of Scrutiny, impeached General Cui, but was rebuked by the Emperor."

  "Yang Suo's impeachment of four people, Cui Chengxiu was not even one of them. Moreover, what he impeached was not a serious crime, just a trivial matter, how could he not be rebuked? Cui Chengxiu took himself as the commander-in-chief, his younger brother was the general, when did our dynasty have such a precedent? What's more detestable is that with the honor of being a minister, he acknowledged a eunuch as his father. This is truly the end of all virtues and morals. If I were to submit a memorial, I would directly impeach Wei Zhongxian."

  "Director Zhou and Eunuch Wang have asked to resign, but the Emperor has retained them one by one. It can be seen that the Emperor still wants to reuse these officials. Brother Qian, if you don't understand the imperial intention and rashly submit a memorial, there may be unbearable consequences."

  "Money brother" was silent for a moment before saying: "We read the books of sages and worthies for what purpose? Is it not to glorify our ancestors, to become the most noble officials, to establish the heart of heaven and earth, to give life to the people, to continue the learning of the ancient sages, and to bring great peace to all generations? Brother Yan's good intentions are appreciated, but this matter is inevitable, there is no need for further discussion."

  "Brother Qian, have you ever thought that as a monitor student, we don't have the right to memorialize the emperor. If you violate the rules and submit a memorial, even if by some heavenly luck you manage to bring down that person, you will still be hard-pressed to escape punishment. What's the point of doing this?"

  Qian brother was not hesitant, his tone was firm: "Tigers and wolves devour people, even with bare hands, one should fight them. If the whole court does not speak out, but the grass and weeds do, it is considered the loyal ministers and righteous scholars' advocacy. Even if I die, what regret! What crime can be mentioned?"

  The elder brother sighed and stopped persuading him.

  Chen Xin didn't look back, this Qian brother was a fearless one, with quite some spirit of the officials from the Wanli era, for their own convictions, they could give up their lives, and for them, tactics like killing chickens to scare monkeys were useless, such people cannot be persuaded by ordinary reasoning, no matter how eloquent you are, even if your words are as beautiful as a blooming lotus flower.

  Today is already October 9th, Chen Xin knows that Wei Zhongxian will be finished this year, which means time is running out. From what the two of them just said, the officials have set their sights on Cui Chengxiu, who is Wei Zhongxian's greatest helper in the outer court and also the Minister of War. With the current unclear situation, everyone dares not to directly confront Wei Zhongxian, so Cui Chengxiu has become the best target to test the emperor's intentions.

  Many officials finished eating quickly and returned to their respective departments. Chen Xin also lost interest in staying, went out the door, saw Zhengyangmen closed tightly, had no choice but to return by the original route, strolled around on the way, went to the lantern market near Chongwenmen for a walk, before returning to the inn.

  Before dinner, Song Wenxian returned with a relaxed face. When he arrived at Chen Xin's house, he told Chen Xin about the news he had inquired about: "Brother Chen, I went to see an old colleague today, and he is now working as a steward for a Beijing official. He said that before Emperor Xi passed away, he promoted Cui Daren to Ben Bing, and now the emperor trusts Jiu Qian Sheng even more. It seems that the capital is peaceful and nothing is wrong." Song Wenxian said with a relaxed face.

  "On the 24th of August, His Majesty ascended to the throne. On the 1st of September, I requested to resign, but His Majesty did not approve. The Minister of War, Cui, and the Minister of Personnel, Zhou (Zhou Yingqiu), as well as the Eunuch Wang (Wang Tidian) also requested to resign, but His Majesty did not approve any of them. Not only that, both Eunuch Wang and I were each granted a son as a Jin Yiwei Commander, it is said that before his death, Emperor Xi told His Majesty to reuse me, now it seems that you should not worry about stopping the promotion, however since you have come, it's better to finish the promotion matter quickly."

  Chen Xin was walking back and forth in the house. Song Wenxian asked about the news that had come back, apparently more reliable than what Qin Lüfang had heard at the teahouse and market.

  Song Xianyan was very optimistic, but Chen Xinyi naturally knew that Chongzhen would not let go of Wei Zhongxian. Chen Xinyi's goal was to profit from the case and gain Chongzhen's attention, so that he could rise through the ranks and become rich in the future. However, if things didn't go well, it would be very dangerous. Chongzhen's strategy was to first stabilize Wei Zhongxian and then boil him alive like a frog in warm water. The timing of this was entirely up to Chongzhen himself. If he suddenly went to play with fire, he might disrupt Chongzhen's plans, fail to kill Wei Zhongxian, and end up sacrificing himself instead.

  Before his death, the Tianqi Emperor suddenly appointed Cui Chengxiu as Minister of War, which was definitely done at the behest of Wei Zhongxian. This shows that Wei Zhongxian also had some preparations in place and would fight to the death with Chongzhen if things didn't go his way.

  He had originally planned to bribe Wen Tianren, sending him a large gift of several thousand taels of silver, and incidentally obtaining some information about court politics. Wen Tianren was one of the longest-serving prime ministers during the Chongzhen era, not stepping down until the tenth year of Chongzhen. It would be beneficial to make connections with him early on. Although this person had entered the ranks of corrupt officials, what did that have to do with Chen Xin? Sending silver before he gained power was still a good deal. Unfortunately, Qin Lüfang hadn't heard about Wen Tianren being in the capital, and later asked Song Wenxian, who said he was actually still in Nanjing.

  Chen Xin glanced at Song Wenxian, this bad bookworm was not of one mind with himself, and he didn't dare to discuss these matters with him. If he were to follow Chen wholeheartedly, he would be a decent military strategist. Now that Chen was a rotten army household, if it weren't for the benefits of maritime trade, this bad bookworm probably wouldn't even bother to look at him.

  "Mr. Song is right, but since the matter of paying taxes cannot be delayed, we can slow down for a few days. We rarely come to the capital, so let's take a stroll around and deal with it slowly."

  Song Wenxian was no longer in a hurry at this time, and listened to the way: "What is there to play in the capital, if Chen brothers want to see the shops, just say so."

  Chen Xin didn't explain, just smiled and said: "Indeed, I need to look at the shops. In the future, I won't be needing Japanese goods, and I don't necessarily have to use a Japanese sword either. It's just right that I take a look in the capital to see if there are any other opportunities." "The profit from these goods is too low, and they sell slowly. Not doing it is also good. I'll help you look around everywhere."

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  Note 1: Qian Jiaxun's original words, it is said that this person was the twenty-fourth generation grandson of the King of Wu and Yue. After Cui Chengxiu was dismissed, he submitted a memorial to Chongzhen as a national supervisor, directly accusing Wei Zhongxian of ten major crimes, providing Chongzhen with the most important ammunition. During the Chongzhen era, he did not hold any high-ranking positions, but during the Southern Ming dynasty, he served as a department official. He returned to his hometown and died a year later. Whether the charges he brought against Wei Zhongxian were all true is not mentioned here, but it can be confirmed that he was not driven by personal gain. This kind of literary integrity and fearlessness is worthy of admiration, so let him make an appearance here.