Chapter 56 Cultivate cronies to investigate officials

Li Lianying has a strong fellow countryman complex, which is mainly related to his personality. He always wants to show that he is different in front of fellow villagers. He has a very good attitude towards fellow villagers and supports them whenever he has the opportunity. Zhao Huitian is Li Lianying's fellow villager, from Zhaojia Village, Dacheng County.The two villages are less than half a mile apart.Zhao Huitian's family is also a big family in Zhaojia Village, because of their old friendship with Li Lianying's family, they have very close contacts.Zhao Huitian was a scholar in the Xianfeng Dynasty.In the imperial examination system of feudal society, although scholars can be exempted from taxes, they are only for fame and cannot become officials.

During the Tongzhi period, Zhao Huitian failed the provincial examination, but wanted to be an official, so he went to Li Lianying in the capital to seek a job.Zhao Huitian was more than ten years older than Li Lianying, and Li Lianying called him his brother. After Li Lianying's mediation, Zhao Huitian donated some money, and finally became a Beijing official.According to county chronicles, he was a doctor of the Ministry of Punishment and worked in the Anhui Department.But this person's good times didn't last long, and he died of illness not long after he was in office.His fourth son, Zhao Shuyi, was well-versed in calligraphy, full of literary skills, and good at writing stereotyped essays. Although he was not selected for the exam, his neighbors in the countryside praised him for his outstanding talent.Li Lianying built a luxurious mansion in Beijing and adopted four sons. In order to teach them, Zhao Shuyi was called to Beijing and hired as Mr. Jiaguan.I usually have a few drinks with Zhao Shuyi, and the relationship is very harmonious.

Zhao Shuyi has been in the Lijiajiao Hall for many years, and usually does not go out very often. Even if he occasionally goes to the streets, he still sits in a car with attendants to see the scenery, humanities and customs of Beijing, and sometimes to buy something along the way.He felt that it was not easy to be restrained like this, and he always wanted to go for a walk outside by himself, just to relax. One afternoon, he suddenly wanted to go out for a walk again, so after arranging the homework for the students, he told the study attendant to go out for a small circle, without following the attendant, and he could come back before dinner.After he went out, he walked casually.

People come and go on the street, and the shops are bustling and lively, row upon row, fascinating.Before I knew it, the sun was setting and the new wind was blowing, which was quite chilly.Zhao Shuyi wanted to go back quickly, but unexpectedly, because of the cold wind, his stomach started to hurt. He was anxious to have a bowel movement, but he couldn't find the toilet after searching for a long time.At this time, it was dark and there were few pedestrians on the street. He couldn't bear it anymore, so he found a secluded alley to solve the problem.When he got up after undressing, suddenly a soldier came (managers of law and order are soldiers who usually patrol the streets at night) and arrested him and asked him why he defecated in the street and did such indecent things.He was upset, and he didn't have any good words to answer. He robbed each other for a few words, and then he was taken to the Dui Pavilion (Duibing Office) by Duibing and handed over to the leader of Duibing for interrogation.

Out of face, Zhao Shuyi didn't tell the truth, so as not to let the Li family know and make fun of him.He only told Dui Bing that he was a teacher, his stomach hurts badly, and seeing that it was getting late, he did something that shouldn't be done.The leader of the pile of soldiers looked him up and down, and saw that he was well-dressed, elegant and eloquent.I thought in my heart that since I am a teacher, I must have a reputation, so I dare not beat him. It turns out that in the Qing Dynasty, scholars above were considered to have achieved fame, and they were exempted from kneeling in court.If you commit a crime, you must first get rid of your reputation and then you can be punished.The leaders of this group of soldiers didn't dare to go too far with him, they just wanted to imprison him for one night as a small punishment.

Zhao Shuyi regretted what she had done in the cell. In order to have a moment of pleasure, she had to suffer all night and starve.What's more, if this matter got out, the Li family would ridicule him, which would be disrespectful to the teacher, and he would be even more ashamed. The Li family didn't know what happened. The waiter in the study felt panicked when he saw that Mr. Tian Hei hadn't come back.At the second watch, there was still no one.The waiter was afraid of accidents, and even more afraid of taking responsibility, so he immediately reported to the housekeeper of the Li residence.When the butler heard this, he was very nervous. The teacher and Li Lianying had always had a good relationship. If they really disappeared, everyone would end badly.So, while blaming the study attendant for not reporting earlier, he went to report to Li Lianying in panic.

After hearing this, Li Lianying acted very calm, thinking that her husband didn't often go out on the street, maybe he lost his way.So, he asked the housekeeper to take his business card, write Mr. Zhao's face and hometown, and send it to the admiral of Jiumen as soon as possible, and told him to search it quickly without delay. The nine gates of the Qing Dynasty refer to the first three gates and two gates each in the east, west and north of the capital, and five patrol battalions were set up.The full name of the person in charge is Admiral Jiumen Patrol and the Fifth Battalion Infantry Commander. He is a Manchu cronies and minister.

The butler quickly took Li Lianying's business card, got into a sedan chair and rushed to the admiral's office.However, in the middle of the night, the admiral had already returned home.The official on duty in the yamen saw that it was Li Lianying's business card, so he didn't dare to neglect, and immediately went to the admiral's mansion to report, saying that Chief Li was ordered, and asked his lord to handle it quickly. Na Tong, the admiral of the Nine Gates, had already gone to bed. Hearing that Director Li sent someone to handle matters late at night, he didn't feel sleepy at all, so he put on his clothes and got up immediately.

The whole city battalion took action immediately, and finally found the Duibing Pavilion where Zhao Shuyi was imprisoned.The leader of Duibing Pavilion reported that there is indeed a man here who claims to be a teacher, but the name does not match, and he is now being imprisoned for violating the night ban.He also said that I saw that he was a student, so I didn't make it difficult for him, but I asked him to come out and ask if he was Mr. Li's housekeeper. After Zhao Shuyi was called out, he quickly explained the real situation.The military officer in the admiral's yamen was furious after hearing this, his eyes widened, and he was very dissatisfied with the leader of Duibing Pavilion, saying that he dared to detain Mr. Li's teacher.If Director Li finds out about this matter, let alone piling up soldiers, even the admiral may be too busy to walk around.Not only scolded him, but also prepared to take him back and report to the admiral.

The leader of the pile of troops was already trembling with fright, and quickly knelt down to Zhao Shuyi to beg for mercy, saying that he was blind, and if Mr. Zhao had told the truth at that time, he would not have dared to catch him even if he had the guts, and said that adults do not remember the mistakes of villains. Beg Zhao Shuyi to spare him.As he spoke, he kowtowed his head again like pounding garlic. Zhao Shuyi was wronged at first, but seeing that he was indeed innocent, he asked him to get up, saying it was a misunderstanding, that he had met Manager Li after returning home, and that he had lost his way, and that you invited me to rest at Duibing Pavilion Yes, I'm about to send me back, I'm sure you'll be fine.Seeing what he said, the leader of the army was very grateful.

Zhao Shuyi said to the military officer sent by the admiral, let him reply to the admiral, just say that the matter is done, don't worry, and thank the admiral on his behalf.The military officer got Zhao Shuyi's oral message, so he had an explanation, and the turmoil was over. Li Lianying later met Na Tong, the admiral of the Nine Gates, and said that the leader of the army was very polite and gave Na Tong a chance to promote him, so Na Tong really promoted the leader of the army.It seems that Zhao Shuyi really didn't tell the truth about that night, and the leader of the army got a blessing in disguise. Zhao Shuyi's temperament has always been stubborn and dull, with pedantic thinking.Although he has been teaching in Li's family for many years and has won the trust of Li Lianying, he has never been able to get an official position.In fact, the reason for this is entirely due to him.In Li Lianying's family, as long as he was a little more tactful and Li Lianying said something to him, he could at least be a seventh-rank county magistrate.But he just went his own way, which made Li Lianying helpless. Li Lianying once said that he was a nerd, he could only write stereotyped essays, and he knew nothing about official affairs. He compensated with better food and a better salary. After Li Lianying's death, Zhao Shuyi returned to his hometown and still taught.Later, he once wrote a poem lamenting the bad fate: the teachers of the noble family are respected, and when they are lucky, they are bad luck.Since ancient times, many yellow bells have been destroyed and abandoned, because the tile kettle is used to thunder.From this poem, we can understand Mr. Zhao's cynical determination, but he can't see the root of social darkness, so he can only regard bad luck as the arrangement of heaven, which is really pitiful. After Li Lianying became the chief eunuch, in order to consolidate her position, she formed gangs in the court, planted cronies, and formed cliques for personal gain. After arranging these ubiquitous eyeliners, if someone says no to Li Lianying, these gangsters will immediately report to Li Lianying, and Li Lianying will use any means to get rid of this person publicly or secretly, lest they threaten her status, power. It is said that Li Lianying not only placed many cronies in the palace, but even the homes of princes and ministers could not escape the disaster. They all sent Li Lianying's cronies to look for opportunities through the method of eunuchs bestowed by the Empress Dowager Cixi.Therefore, Li Lianying can quickly get information about any major events in the palaces.After being screened by Li Lianying and then reported to the Empress Dowager Cixi, he can invite credit and get rewards from it, which really kills two birds with one stone. Many people know that the Empress Dowager Cixi has many eyes and ears, but in fact most of them are arranged by Li Lianying.In order to serve the Empress Dowager Cixi well, Li Lianying not only always considered her one step ahead of her, but even the servants in front of the Empress Dowager Cixi were his fellow villagers and cronies who he carefully arranged.It is said that at that time, besides Dacheng County, most of Li Lianying's people were from nearby Hejian, Renqiu, Qingxian, Jinghai, Wen'an and other counties.This reflects Li Lianying's good intentions.Because the eunuchs in the palace have always formed gangs very seriously, the chief eunuchs of each palace have their own power groups, and the struggle between the groups is also very fierce.Therefore, Li Lianying relied on her backer Empress Dowager Cixi to work hard to develop her own strength, and no one dared to compete with him.For example, opium smoking was banned many times in the palace. Everyone knew that Li Lianying smoked opium, but no one dared to investigate him.Even the Empress Dowager Cixi turned a blind eye to Li Lianying's opium smoking, and of course others couldn't control it. Among the main figures arranged by Li Lianying in the palace of Empress Dowager Cixi, besides the second chief executive, Cui Yugui, there were also three chief eunuchs, one surnamed Xu, one surnamed Lu, and the other surnamed Luo.The first two were from Dashangtun, Renqiu County (now belonging to Dacheng County). Because they are very close to the county seat of Dacheng County, they are only more than 30 miles away from Lijia Village.Therefore, Li Lianying used the name of his fellow villagers to pull them under his sect and recommended them to be the chief eunuchs. Both of these two people married wives and had children first, and then they entered the palace cleanly, and their wives and children were all present at home.Later, they made a lot of money, bought more than five hectares of land each, and built thirty or forty tile-roofed houses, and the family became a middle-class family.This man surnamed Xu, he had a son named Xu Yicheng, besides buying a house and land, he also opened two businesses, unexpectedly he also joined the ranks of the gentry, until the July 7th Incident in 1937, he still belonged to a wealthy family. Besides, the surname is Luo, his name is Luo Sijia, he is from the same village as Li Lianying, and he is from Luojia Village.In 1903, there were already three or four children. Because of the difficult life, they had nowhere to go, so they had no choice but to go to Beijing to join Li Lianying, and became a eunuch in the palace.Soon he was sponsored and became the chief eunuch.By the time he left the palace and returned home after the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, his family had become a local rich man, owning 400 mu of land, and living a prosperous life. In addition, there are also four eunuchs in the dormitory of Empress Dowager Cixi who are Li Lianying's fellow villagers or close neighbors, one surnamed Liu, one surnamed Xu, and two surnamed Wang. Live, and some die miserably. The master (not the eunuch) who cooks porridge in the imperial dining room of the Empress Dowager Cixi was also recommended by Li Lianying. He was from Xichenzhuangzi Village, Dacheng County, and his surname was Chen.Because the Empress Dowager Cixi had to drink half a bowl of porridge after every meal.When she was eating, twenty or thirty bowls of porridge had to be arranged in advance, and when the Empress Dowager Cixi had finished eating, the eunuch who set the meal would touch the bowls one by one to test the temperature.Whichever bowl has the right temperature, offer it up quickly.It's too hot, it's not too cold, it's really hard to serve.People are often scolded or tortured by Empress Dowager Cixi for this.Only this master Chen can always make porridge at the right temperature. Later, this master Chen got a lot of opportunities to make a fortune, got a lot of silver and property, and built a house and bought land in his hometown.The villagers all called him the second rich man, which means that he is second only to Li Lianying.In fact, he is much worse than Li Lianying in every aspect. The eunuch in the Empress Dowager Cixi's tea room was from Xue Guxian Village, Dacheng County. Although she was favored by Li Lianying, she could only get a little favor.In his later years, he went out of the palace and returned home, and died of illness in his hometown, which was regarded as a lifetime of work for nothing. It is said that two of the eunuchs in Guangxu's bedroom were Li Lianying's fellow countrymen and confidantes, so Li Lianying was always in control of Emperor Guangxu's every move.After Emperor Guangxu was imprisoned, Empress Dowager Cixi ordered Li Lianying to supervise Emperor Guangxu.In fact, Li Lianying did not guard Guangxu every day, but sent her cronies and eunuchs to watch on duty. If there was any situation, she would immediately report it to the Empress Dowager Cixi. Due to continuous natural disasters near Dacheng County, the people are in dire straits, and it is close to the capital.At that time, many people from Dacheng went to Beijing to work as eunuchs.In fact, these people were not all for promotion and fortune, most of them defected to Li Lianying and entered the palace as eunuchs out of helplessness.After all, there are many people in the palace who do specific things, few are officials, and few can really climb up. Most of them are doing ordinary errands, and they can only receive a small salary every month, and still can't take care of the small life of the family.After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, most people left the palace and returned to their hometowns. Li Lianying's relatives, friends, nephews, etc. belonged to Li Lianying's direct lineage, and Li Lianying took advantage of them even more.In the Six Ministries, Nine Ministers and Thirteen Divisions at that time, these people were placed wherever they could be placed.Among them, the most powerful is Li Lianying's eldest son, Li Chengwu, who is the second-rank Hualing Dingdai, the rank of lieutenant general, known as Li Huwei, and became the chief of the imperial guards. He is the most successful person under Li Lianying.In fact, it is not difficult to understand. Of course, his heir has to work hard for him. Most of the servants in Li's house are from the same village, or they are relatives.But there are only two people who really get rich.One is the housekeeper Deng Shutang, who is from Beiwangxiang Village, Dacheng County; the other is the account manager Wang Yaozeng, who is from Anqingtun Village, Dacheng County.Both of these two bought more than 200 mu of land at home and became local rich men. All in all, Li Lianying is very enthusiastic about people from her hometown asking for help.One is to show that I have not forgotten the people from my hometown, and the other is that people from my hometown are my confidantes, which makes people feel at ease. This is exactly what Li Lianying is careful about.