Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 377 Posthumous seal
Guangzhou. After many hardships, the Qing Dynasty delegation finally arrived in Guangzhou in early February.

At noon in Dongcheng, Guangzhou, Donghao River was crowded with people, and merchants and common people were waiting to enter the city.

Li Wen looked at the pedestrians outside the city wearing straight-collared clothes and net scarves on their heads, and kept looking out, with an excited look on her face.

After the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, in order to subvert the etiquette of the Central Plains, they forcibly promoted the order to shave their heads. Wherever they went, they would either keep their hair or their heads.
As the capital of the Qing Dynasty, the order to shave one's head was particularly strict.
When the Qing court first entered the capital, it was somewhat restrained. However, after the Qing court defeated Li Zicheng, overthrew the Hongguang Dynasty and seized Jiangnan, the Qing court's order to shave the hair became more and more severe. Once someone was found to have kept his hair and worn a crown privately, he would be directly beheaded for the crime of rebellion.
Nowadays, everyone in the capital has shaved their heads and braided their hair.
Li Wen had been in the enemy territory for many years. He could only see such a peaceful and prosperous scene with well-dressed people in his dreams at midnight. He had not seen the scenery of his homeland for a long time.

Li Wen traveled south with the delegation and passed by big cities like Fuzhou and Chaozhou. Although the people in these cities were also well-off, they were far less moved than Guangzhou at this time.
Guangzhou has been the imperial capital for five or six years. The population of Guangdong Province has been constantly flowing into Guangzhou. With the addition of tens of thousands of imperial guards stationed in the capital, the population of Guangzhou has now exceeded 500,000, making it the largest city in the south.
Guangzhou is a major port in the south. With the gathering of a large population, it also drives the prosperity of the city's business and trade.
The imperial court finally announced the restoration of the imperial examination this year. The spring examination is approaching. After the Spring Festival, scholars from all over the country began to go to Beijing to take the exam, making Guangzhou city more and more lively.

Li Wen was excited as she watched the scenery outside Guangzhou, but she didn't realize that their arrival had already caused a commotion in the city.

The Qing Dynasty envoys, escorted by Guan Can and others, passed through the Zhengdong Gate and officially entered the city of Guangzhou.

After the delegation entered the city, the number of guards suddenly increased to hundreds. It is not accurate to say that they were guards. To be more precise, the number of soldiers who maintained order increased to hundreds.

On the East Gate Street, after the delegation entered the city, more and more people gathered along the street to watch.

On the street, no matter men, women, old or young, everyone was staring at the Tatar envoys in the middle of the road.

The people stared at the thin braids behind Leng Sengji and others' heads, but they kept shouting and cursing.

"Are these the Tartar envoys? Are they really as the newspapers say, all of them have shaved heads and pigtails, and look like non-human beings?"

A middle-aged scholar wearing a scarf in the crowd, with a look of disgust on his face, shouted angrily:
"The hair and skin of our bodies are given by our parents, so how can we easily damage them? These Tartars shave their heads and wear left-side lapels. They are truly barbarians and beasts. They are really a disgrace to human civilization."

The Confucian scholars watching in the crowd responded with anger, but the common people had a simpler understanding.
"I heard that the people in the north were forced to shave their heads by the Tartars. If it weren't for His Royal Highness the Regent who repelled the Tartars, wouldn't we have become half-human, half-ghost?"

"If I keep this pigtail, how can I face my ancestors in the future?"

On both sides of the road, a crowd of people were pointing and shouting, making a lot of noise. Leng Sengji and others had no expression on their faces, but Li Wen and several other Han officials in the delegation all lowered their heads with pale faces.

Li Wen lowered her head, not wanting to be seen, but a man in a long shirt in the crowd shouted loudly at this moment

"Why does that person in the Tartar delegation look like Li Wen from Songjiang?"

Li Wen was shocked when he heard the shout. He subconsciously looked up at the crowd, wanting to see which old friend recognized him.

But when Li Wen looked ahead, she saw a sea of ​​people, and she couldn't tell who had spoken just now.
When Li Wen looked up, another voice rang out from the side.
"It's really Li Wen. He is a famous scholar of Fushe and a talented scholar of Yunjian. How could such a person be in the Qing imperial envoys?"

Li Wen looked panicked and turned to look again, but she could only see the crowd surging on the street, and the voices in the crowd continued to ring out.

"What a crap talent! How can there be a talent with a shaved head and pigtails in the Ming Dynasty? Jiangnan was occupied, so he shaved his head to survive and became a refugee, but now he is in the Tartar delegation."

"This traitor must have sold out his ancestors for fame and fortune and became a dog for the Tartars. This traitor"

"Traitor, traitor!"

Suddenly, there were bursts of angry curses from all sides of the street, and then all kinds of rotten leaves, fruits and vegetables were thrown towards Li Wen.
Li Wen looked terrified and kept turning her head to find the person who made the noise in the crowd, but all she saw were angry faces.
Li Wen felt that she was suddenly being pointed at by thousands of people, and voices of traitors kept coming from all directions.
At this time, the people on the street were completely agitated. Everyone was shouting "traitor" and throwing all kinds of filth at the Qing envoys in the middle of the road.

While the scene was in chaos, the man in the shirt who had just caused the commotion had already disappeared into the crowd.

Leng Sengji and the others were walking on the road with their heads held high, but suddenly, all kinds of vegetable leaves and rotten fruits fell like raindrops, and then there were basins of dirty water splashed on both sides of the street.
Leng Sengji and the others had nowhere to escape. They were soaked from head to toe. Leng Sengji smelled the stench on their bodies and his face was filled with anger.

"You wait for these cheap guys..."

Leng Sengji was only halfway through his words when he was immediately pulled off his horse by Guan Can. Leng Sengji looked at Guan Can with a furious expression and was about to question him, but before he could open his mouth, Guan Can shouted angrily:
"If you miss, keep talking nonsense."

On both sides of the street, there were shouts and yells everywhere.
Leng Sengji looked at the people around him who were starting to break through the guard wall with ferocious expressions. He was startled and woke up instantly. He didn't dare to say anything more.

The Ming army guards acted quickly, as if they had a plan. Before the crowd broke through the blockade, they pulled the members of the delegation off their horses one by one and escorted the delegation to quickly escape from the street.
In the courtyard of Sifang Pavilion, the Qing Dynasty envoys stood in the courtyard with embarrassed expressions. All the envoys were in disheveled clothes, with vegetable leaves and dirt hanging all over their bodies.
Leng Sengji was splashed with something, and his white fox fur coat was covered in muddy yellow. The brocade fur coat, which was originally worth a hundred gold coins, now gave off a foul odor.

Leng Sengji's face was filled with anger, and he shouted
"Guan Can, the Ming court must give us an explanation for this matter. We are a Qing envoy and will not tolerate this..."

Before Leng Sengji could finish his words, he was interrupted by an angry voice.
"Explain, explain to your mother"

"Before entering the city, didn't I tell you not to go through the main gate? You are looking for death, and you are making me look so filthy. Fuck you!"

Leng Sengji looked at the furious Guan Can, and his expression froze. Before entering the city, Guan Can did suggest that they should not go through the main gate, and it would be better to enter the city quietly.

But Leng Sengji believed that they were envoys from the Qing court and insisted on entering the city through the main gate, which led to the chaos just now.
If we really talk about it, this seems to be their problem.

But at this time, Leng Sengji could not admit his mistake. Leng Sengji was about to argue with Guan Can, but at this time, Guan Can had completely lost his patience and said

"We have arrived at the Sifang Pavilion. From now on, you Tartars will have nothing to do with me. You will have to fend for yourself in the future."

After Guan Can finished speaking, he turned around and left with his soldiers without saying anything, leaving behind the stunned Qing envoys.
In the backyard of Sifang Pavilion, Leng Sengji is sitting at the top, with Luo Shi and other bannermen on his left, and Li Wen and other accompanying Han officials on his right.

Everyone in the delegation had bathed and changed their clothes. Leng Sengji looked at the people below who were still in shock and said:

"Roshi, what's the situation in the front yard?" "There are five or six soldiers guarding outside the hall. The Ming people did not prohibit us from entering and leaving."

Leng Sengji was also relieved when he heard this. No matter what the Ming court planned, it was good news that they were not banned from entering and leaving. It would also be much more convenient for the delegation to carry out operations in the future.
Leng Sengji glanced at the people below and spoke again

"Although the Ming people did not prohibit our actions, this is the Ming imperial capital. The people inside and outside the Sifang Pavilion must be spies planted by the Ming court."

"You all must not take it lightly. If you have important matters to discuss, you must dismiss the servants in the hall. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

The faces of the envoys below also turned serious, and they immediately responded in a deep voice.

Although Leng Sengji was giving instructions at this time, in fact, it was just a casual reminder.

Only Leng Sengji knew the truly important things in the delegation. Even Li Wen, the deputy envoy, had no idea about the bottom line price of the peace talks.
Even though Li Wen is trusted by Dorgon, she is still a Han Chinese after all, and Leng Sengji is the truly reliable bannerman.

Seeing that everyone was alert, Leng Sengji stopped talking and continued

"Our first priority during our mission to the Ming court is to find a way to facilitate peace talks as much as possible. I will personally handle this matter."

"In addition, we also need to try our best to collect information about the Ming court."

"Guangzhou is the capital of the Ming Dynasty. This time we have a rare opportunity to go deep into the heart of the Ming Dynasty. You must find out as much information as possible about the Ming Dynasty's domestic affairs, economy, military, etc."

"There is a newspaper in Guangzhou called Xingming Times, which contains many important events in the Ming Dynasty. The Regent King specifically requested that this newspaper be collected in full. Deputy Envoy Li, I will leave this matter to you."

"I will definitely do my best"

Li Wen just responded softly, and then sat down silently.

The Xingming Times has now replaced the old official reports and become the first-hand information for understanding the Ming court's movements. Naturally, the Qing court also set its sights on this newspaper.
Xingming Times was published publicly in Guangzhou. It was not difficult for the Qing government to obtain one or several issues, but the real difficulty was to collect all the issues without missing a single one.
One of the missions of the delegation to the Ming court was to collect as many newspapers as possible and bring them back to the Qing court for study.

The Qing Dynasty delegation traveled for more than a month, sleeping in the open air along the way, and encountered many dangers after entering the city. They were almost caught by the people to vent their anger.
Leng Sengji looked at the tired people and said nothing more. He just told them to go and rest.
The next morning, in the bedroom of Sifang Pavilion, Li Wen called Chen Xing, the clerk of Honglu Temple who was in charge of the pavilion, and said

"I want to buy some books, and would like to ask Brother Chen about the bookstores in the city."

"I don't deserve it. Since the court moved the capital to Guangzhou, the culture and education in the city have flourished. There are now many bookstores in the city."

"If Deputy Envoy Chen wants to buy a large collection of classics and history books, he can go to Jixian Pavilion. The pavilion has a complete collection of all the classics and history books. If he wants to buy a selection of contemporary literature, he can go to Daya Hall. The hall also has a complete collection of selected literature from past dynasties."

Li Wen's eyes were dark and bloodshot, and it was obvious that she did not get enough rest last night. Chen Xing looked at Li Wen, who looked pale, with a gleam in his eyes, and suddenly spoke again

"But having said that, the only truly big bookstore in the city is Saoye Shanfang."

"Although this bookshop was opened not long ago, it has a complete collection of classics, history, miscellaneous books, selected works, poems and Yuan operas, and even rare and exquisite books that are reprinted from time to time."

Li Wen was stunned when she heard this and said

"There is a Saoye Mountain House here? Does the Saoye Mountain House have Xingming Times for sale?"

Chen Xing's eyes flashed with a strange look, but his face remained calm and he smiled.

"Of course there are. Which bookstore in the city doesn't sell the Times these days?"

When Li Wen heard this, she no longer hesitated and spoke directly.

"I have just arrived in Guangjing and am not familiar with the roads in the city. Brother Chen, can you lead me to the bookstore?"

Chen Xing's eyes lit up, and he was about to agree, but at this moment he suddenly saw a shadow outside the door.

Chen Xing thought for a moment, and suddenly a trace of embarrassment appeared on his face. He said

"Deputy Envoy Li, please don't embarrass me. With your current status, how dare I travel with you?"

"Let alone going out, once I leave this house, I can't even talk to Deputy Envoy Li."

"How about this, I'll write down the addresses of these bookstores. If Deputy Envoy Li wants to go, he can find them himself when the time comes."

Li Wen's eyes darkened when she saw Chen Xing shaking his head. Although he had finally seen the clothes of his homeland, he had become a rat crossing the street, and everyone avoided him.
Chen Xing left the addresses of several bookstores and said goodbye.
Chen Xing walked out of the room. There was no one in the courtyard at this time. Chen Xing had a calm expression on his face, as if he didn't realize anything. He walked directly out of the courtyard.
Northeast of Guangzhou, Gongyuan Street, Li Wen, wearing a Taoist robe and a scarf on her head, walks towards Saoye Shanfang
If he hadn't taken off his hat, Li Wen would have looked like any other scholar entering or leaving the bookshop. In fact, there was no difference between the two. Li Wen was originally a scholar from a Ming dynasty gentry family.
Li Wen looked at the familiar plaque of Saoye Shanfang above the study, a trace of nostalgia flashed in her eyes, and then she and the delegation behind her stepped into the bookstore building.

At the corner of the street, the Jinyifu spy saw Li Wen step into the Saoye Mountain House, and his expression relaxed. Soon, the Jinyifu spy in a long shirt also walked into the study.
Li Wen finally went to Saoye Shanfang, a very famous bookstore in Jiangnan.

Almost all the big cities in Jiangnan have Saoye Shanfang. According to the investigation of Jinyifu, there was a branch of Saoye Shanfang in Songjiang, Li Wen’s hometown.

Li Wen suddenly came to Guangzhou and was unfamiliar with the place. At this moment, she suddenly heard a familiar place. Jinyifu was almost 80% sure that this person would choose to go to Saoye Shanfang.
(End of this chapter)