[R18] Will drink wine – Chapter 15 of “About Wine” [English]

Chapter 15 Yellow Bird

The next day, Shen Zechuan was supposed to go to Jinyiwei to take up his post. Xi Gu’an’s younger brother, Xi Hongxuan, was hosting a banquet and invited some of the most recent talents in the capital to have a chat in the Chaodong Building.

Xi Hongxuan was obese and had to be fanned by someone when he sat down.He held the bamboo fan and said: “I am very lucky this year. Although I did not invite Yanqing, I did invite Yuanzhuo!”

Xue Xiuzhuo has an official position and did not come today.The “Yuan Zhuo” Xi Hongxuan refers to is Yao Wenyu, the beloved disciple of Haige Lao Hai Liangyi.The reason why these three people are so close to each other is not only because they are from the same eight families in Qidu, but also because they have been friends since childhood.

Just as he was talking, he saw the bead curtain lifted, and an elegant scholar as gentle as jade walked in. He was wearing a crow green robe with slanted collar and large sleeves, and a briefcase hanging from his waist.He only laughed when he heard the sound, and all the Confucian scholars present stood up to greet him, and for a while, greetings began.

Yao Wenyu paid his respects one by one and asked everyone to take a seat. Then he sat down and said, “I see you every year. How can I be worthy of the word ‘rare’?”

He is so humble, but no one here dares to underestimate him.Because Yao Wenyu was a child prodigy in Qudu in his early years. He wrote lyrics and twelve poems at the age of eight, which was the “jade” that the old man of the Yao family placed in the palm of his hand.In order to prevent his genius from fading away, he specially joined Hai Liangyi’s disciples.Hai Liangyi is a rigid and serious person. He is the only student like him so far, and he cherishes him very much.

After everyone chatted, they talked about the recent situation.

Xi Hongxuan waved his hand to the left and right to stop fanning, and said: “Qudu, there is indeed a strange thing happening recently. I wonder if you brothers still remember Shen Wei, the King of Jianxing of Zhongbo who committed suicide in fear of crime five years ago?”

“If you cower and don’t fight, you are a villain!” One of the people sitting at the table straightened up and said, “According to the law, it is not an exaggeration to punish the nine clans of he. It’s a pity that the emperor is so kind-hearted that he has to leave the remnant of the Shen family. I heard this morning that he came out. Shen Wei’s crime has been confirmed. How can he, as the son of a defeated minister, go on an errand? How can the world’s wise men be convinced!”

“Yes.” Xi Hongxuan said, “How can this be possible? This has never been said.”

“It’s probably the Queen Mother who wants to protect her.” Someone added, “I’ve heard for a long time that this remnant has some connection with the Hua family. But how can a personal relationship compare to the law of the country? Isn’t this a violation of the law!”

Xi Hongxuan sighed deeply and said worriedly: “I’m afraid this has set a precedent, which will give future sinners and their descendants an opportunity to take advantage of it.”

The Confucian scholars suddenly became excited, and because of Shen Wei’s crimes, Shen Zechuan could not be allowed to come out.

“What do you think Yuanzhuo?”

Yao Wenyu drank tea and said calmly: “I haven’t been in Qudu for a long time. I don’t know the details. How can I speak?”

Xi Hongxuan said sympathetically: “That’s right, you often travel abroad to study and don’t know what’s going on in the capital.”

I don’t know who said it first: “We are all people who have read poetry and books. We are all people who know integrity and understand the law. We absolutely cannot sit idly by like this.”

Xi Hongxuan said: “What should we do?”

The man replied: “We are all students in the Imperial College. The public is so excited that the emperor should think twice. Why don’t we go back and kneel in the Mingli Hall with everyone, begging the emperor to take back his orders and severely punish the remnants of the Shen family!”

There was a sudden echo during the banquet, and Xi Hongxuan clapped his hands and praised: “Good! You are indeed the pillars of the country. If you kneel today, you will be remembered forever! I am ashamed. Although I am not studying at the Imperial College, I am willing to join you.”

The Confucian scholar who just spoke said, “How can this be done? Brother Hongxuan’s brother is the seal commander of the Eighth Battalion. If he is implicated for this matter, it will be more than he loses. Everyone, let us go!”

When the banquet was over, Yao Wenyu asked the shopkeeper to steam some meat that was soft and easy to eat. While waiting, he listened to the whispers of the Confucian scholars coming downstairs.

“Whatever you say about ‘Pure Yu Yuanzhuo’, isn’t it just a shy turtle? Look at him just now, he doesn’t even dare to say a word, how can he compare to Brother Hongxuan’s kindness!”

Yao Wenyu put a pine nut into his mouth and just smiled silently without stepping out to argue with others.By the time the meat was wrapped and he came out, the crowd had almost dispersed.

Xi Hongxuan said: “Yuanzhuo, shall I give it to you?”

“No.” Yao Wenyu lifted the meat on his hand, “I’m going to the teacher’s house.”

The two said goodbye. Xi Hongxuan looked at Yao Wenyu’s back, sneered for a moment, and said, “Let’s go.”

On the other side, Shen Zechuan has arrived at the Jinyiwei courtyard.When he stepped into the threshold, he was watched from all directions.The hurried guards in uniforms all over the courtyard would look at him as they passed by.

It was Ge Qingqing who led the way, heHe took Shen Zechuan to the duty room and said, “We, the Jinyiwei, are divided into four types. One is the selection from private households. There are sisters in the family who are the ‘female households’ in the palace. The brothers come to the Jinyiwei with temporary waist badges. Although they are exempted from conscription, they have no salary, such as Xiao Wu. The second is the ones who get the title of Dauchuan.The recommendation from the father-in-law is called “Zhongguanjianfeng”. The commander is like this.The third is that he is from a military family, and Yin En is hereditary. This is what I am.The fourth is that he specializes in the industry and is a genius in his field. Regardless of his origin, he is appointed by the emperor. These people are very powerful, and you will meet them in the future.they.[1]”

Ge Qingqing said, opening the curtain and saying hello: “You are going to take the job and register, you are here.”

When Shen Zechuan entered, the noise in the stall suddenly stopped.The imperial guards with different clothes and waistbands all turned their heads, and the hall fell into an eerie silence.

“Shen Zechuan?” The man sitting behind the table with his legs crossed pushed the booklet in front of him and looked at him, “It’s you.”

Shen Zechuan saw him wearing Feiyu suit.Among the Jin Yiwei, the Feiyu suit cannot be worn by those above the rank of general.So he bowed slightly and said, “That’s right.”

This man’s hair hangs down from his forehead, his beard is not clean, and his behavior is quite unsociable.He touched his chin and said with a smile: “He is indeed the son of a dancing prostitute. It’s not in vain that Shen Wei spent a lot of money to win a beauty. Qingqing, give him a brand.”

He said and threw the waist cards prepared on the table to Ge Qingqing.

Ge Qingqing took the sign, handed it to Shen Zechuan, and said, “Lan Zhou, this is our Lord Jinyiwei Zhenfu. He came here today to hand you the sign.”

“I, Qiao Tianya.” Qiao Tianya said and motioned to Shen Zechuan to look at the cards.

Shen Zechuan turned over his waist card and looked at Qiao Tianya again.

Qiao Tianya said: “Is the elephant training center right? That’s where you are going. Qingqing will take you there later. Now there are some rules that I want to tell you. Our Jinyiwei’s waist badges are as valuable as the badges of the Eighth Camp. When we are not on duty, we must keep them properly and not lend them out. Although everyone is assigned to the errands of the twelve divisions, those are not our duties. Our duty is to serve the emperor, what does the emperor say?Well, what do we do?In addition to the errands of the Twelve Divisions, we also have to serve as the “eyes and ears”.If something big happens, like when we arrested you five years ago, you need to have a document and a special arrest badge.Any task will not be taken by me, nor by the commander, but by everyone, that is, by drawing lots [2].

After listening to Ji Gang’s explanation, Shen Zechuan nodded and said nothing.

“One last thing.” Qiao Tianya stood up, looked around at everyone in the hall, and said, “Jin Yiwei has made a concerted effort to hang up our waist tags. They are our brothers. All the grudges in the past have disappeared, and there is no secret conspiracy or trick on our brothers. If it is done, once it is discovered, all names will be removed from the tags, and they will be thrown into prison and dealt with severely.”

The surrounding eyes suddenly dispersed, everyone focused on their own matters.

Qiao Tianya turned back with satisfaction and said to Shen Zechuan, “Go ahead.”

Shen Zechuan bowed and followed Ge Qingqing out.

“I thought it would be a job at the Yiluan Institute like the Fan Hands Division.” Ge Qingqing looked at Shen Zechuan, “The Elephant Taming Institute… would be fine.”

“I also made all kinds of guesses.” Shen Zechuan said with a smile, “But I didn’t expect to raise elephants.”

“The horse training department is a good place now. The golden-saddled horses are raised for the nobles. Once you have contacts and become familiar with each other, it will be easier to be recommended for promotion. Let’s go to the elephant training department.” Ge Qingqing looked strange, “…it can’t be called leisurely, and there is still an early morning meeting. Those elephant masters are really not easy to serve. But the commanders go there rarely, and it is not easy to find trouble.”

The elephant training center is close to the Mingli Official Road in the royal city of Qandu, which has direct access to the Kailing River.When the weather is hot, elephants are driven to the river to drink water and bathe.Not only that, every morning during the morning court, six elephants must be led to stand on both sides of the royal steps. If there is a festival or a hunting event, the number of elephants must be increased.These elephants will not only go to court like court officials, but also go down to court like court officials.It may be difficult for a court official to recover due to illness, but an elephant can.They are also like Jinyiwei, and they are on the top of the wheel [3].

Shen Zechuan has never even raised a dog, so now that he is trying to raise an elephant, it can only be said that things are unpredictable.

The two of them were still on the way, but they heard someone chasing quickly from behind.

Ge Qingqing looked back and said, “What’s the matter?”

The Jin Yiwei who was chasing him looked at Shen Zechuan, with a solemn expression on his face, and said, “Your waistband is suspended. You can’t go to work today, so go back to the stall as soon as possible!”

Shen Zechuan said: “Is there any new order from the palace?”

“There has been no new transfer order from the palace, but the three thousand students studying in the Imperial College went on a hunger strike and kneeled down, asking the emperor to withdraw his order and deal with the Shen family severely!”

Ge Qingqing immediately changed color and looked at Shen Zechuan.

Xiao Chiye was punished and grounded. He flipped through his storybook on the couch and listened to Chen Yang saying that King Chu had arrived, but he didn’t bother to get up.

“It’s grounded.” Xiao Chiye ate the fruit without raising his head, “Why did you come in so arrogantly?”

Li Jianheng dropped Xiao Chiye’s governor badge and said excitedly: “Ce’an! Something big has happened!”

Xiao Chiye’s eyelids twitched.

Li Jianheng said: “Three thousand students knelt down to ask the emperor to deal with Shen Zechuan strictly! They have knelt until dark, and are going on a hunger strike to force the emperor to withdraw his order. The emperor heard the news during dinner, and now he was so angry that he lay back on the couch!”

Xiao Chiye looked at the badge and said, “Throw it out.”

“…The Eighth Battalion doesn’t do anything to disperse the students. Why don’t you ask me to bring the sign back to you? If the Forbidden Army can disperse the students tonight, your account will be wiped off!” Li Jianheng stamped his feet anxiously and said, “The other Forbidden Army can’t do it. Isn’t it easy to deal with a few helpless students? This is a good thing!”

Xiao Chiye raised his book to cover his face, remained silent for a moment, and gritted his teeth and said, “This is a damn good thing.”

The students of the Imperial College were candidates for the imperial court in the future, and they could mobilize the influence of local Confucian scholars. Xi Gu’an also knew that he could not touch them, so they were hot potatoes.If Xiao Chiye really touches these three thousand students tonight, he will be buried with pen and spit first!

“Where is Shen Zechuan at this moment?” Xiao Chiye sat up suddenly and asked with his knees propped up.

“I heard that I went to the Jinyiwei stall early in the morning.” Li Jianheng looked at his suit and asked, “Where are we going? Are we looking for Shen Zechuan?”

Xiao Chiye went down the steps. Chenyang had already prepared the horse. He turned over, hit the horse and left.

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The author has something to say:

[1]: For relevant information, please refer to “A Brief Discussion on the Functions of Jinyiwei”, “Jinyiwei”, and “Selected Books of Jinyiwei”.In fact, in detail, there are eight types of Jinyiwei selection, but the plot here only introduces four types.

[2]: Jin Yiwei’s mission is indeed “drawing lots”. In order to prevent someone from leaking relevant information in advance, the decision is made by drawing lots.

[3]: For details about the elephant bathing and the whole city watching, please see “Scenery of the Imperial Capital”.

Jinyiwei is a magical organization. It not only has shorthands but also painters as eyes and ears.They have painters, doctors, animal trainers, silversmiths, blacksmiths, gunpowder…including translators.Their selection requirements are very high, and most of them are top talents in their professions.Usually, it requires taller legs and superior arm strength.Liu Heping mentioned in “The Ming Dynasty 1566” that Jin Yiwei required “tiger arms, wasp waist, mantis legs” and “the ability to run more than 160 miles in a day.”He can climb a two-foot-high wall with his arms, he can cut a person’s throat with his bare hands, and he won’t sleep for days until the task is completed.

It seems that Ce’an is more suitable.