Chapter 385

"Frown."

"Frown again."

"You frowned too much, go back a bit, that's it!"

"Lower the corners of your mouth, don't shake, lower, lower again, stop! Just this! Keep it!"

"Remember the words I taught you, I think highly of you! Go!"

The Emperor was very satisfied.

Qian Ruoer was very stiff.

So outside the Yunlong Gate, when Baoyue lifted the carriage curtain, what she saw was this stiff, artificial expression of Qian Ruoer.

Baoyue was as cold as frost:

"It seems Supervisor Qian has been promoted and forgotten who he is..."

Qian Ruoer was very terrified:

"The small person absolutely doesn't dare! Even if the small person is promoted ten more levels, I am not worthy of being arrogant with the Noble Lady! The small person really had no chance to enter—"

Baoyue interrupted lightly:

"It doesn't matter if you forget. I'll help you remember.

Qian Ruoer, from Jurong County, Danyang Commandery."

(Danyang Commandery is the capital commandery, the most important are the two counties of the capital: North Jiankang, South Moling. Jurong is far away)

Qian Ruoer was stunned. He had been in the palace for ten years, and his family had long since moved, and he hadn't heard the two words Jurong for a long time.

Baoyue paused, seemingly intending to leave time for Qian Ruoer to remember, and then said:

"Living in Nitang | Niupu Village | Tao She Lane."

(Moved to the suburbs of the capital, Nitang is more than ten kilometers away from the capital, stuck at the eastern limit of the Jiankang capital circle (also called "Imperial City" at the time), which can be understood as the fifth or sixth ring. Although the location is remote, it is also a capital person, not only densely populated but also a traffic artery for merchants)

Qian Ruoer's whole body stiffened!

"Parents died early, only one older sister. Sister married Wu Dahao, a petty official of the eighth dam of Po Gang Du, heard that he likes to collect chickens from people, people gave him the nickname Wu Yiwuo, his appetite is much smaller than yours."

(Po Gang Du is an important artificial canal, with fourteen dams, a dam is a dam, a stepped waterway set up to maintain navigation, there is a rotating shaft on the shore that can pull boats, passing the dam requires manpower or ox power to pull, his brother-in-law is a petty official responsible for scheduling, likes to collect people's eggs)

Baoyue smiled when she said "Wu Yiwuo," while Qian Ruoer was horrified, his body trembling!

Baoyue looked at Qian Ruoer curiously:

"They all say the eldest sister is like a mother, and the mother's husband is like a father. You play like this, aren't you afraid of harming your sister and brother-in-law?"

Every time Baoyue said a sentence, Qian Ruoer's face turned pale, his heart was extremely afraid, and he almost wanted to sell the Emperor!

Finally, he knelt down directly, his hands supporting the ground:

"The small person really didn't deceive! The small person really didn't see him! The small person tried! Really! Always trying! It's just that the small person had no chance! The small person—"

Baoyue's eyes turned cold:

"You have no chance now. You don't need to handle this matter anymore."

Qian Ruoer knocked his head in a hurry:

"Noble Lady, please have mercy! Noble Lady, please have mercy! The small person, the small person really tried my best! The small person is willing to go again! Go again—"

Baoyue's expression was indifferent:

"Bring it here."

"Noble Lady Xiao..."

Qian Ruoer still wanted to cry and beg, but the Hou Mansion guards wearing long knives stepped forward quickly, not allowing refusal.

Qian Ruoer trembled, took out the letter from his sleeve, and before he could open his mouth to beg again, it was snatched by the guard and presented to Baoyue.

Baoyue took back the letter, checked if the "goods didn't match the board," and after confirming there was no problem, she didn't even look at Qian Ruoer:

"Go."

The carriage curtain fell, and the carriage set off.

Qian Ruoer almost threw himself out to climb onto the carriage shaft, like a drowning person climbing onto the last piece of driftwood:

"Noble Lady, wait! The small person still has words to say! The small person still has—"

Before he finished speaking, he was held down by the guard.

Qian Ruoer reached this last step, both begging for preservation and begging to complete the task, regardless of public or private, he went all out, stiffening his neck, struggling and shouting:

"Let go of me! Let me say one more word to the Noble Lady! I have important matters to report to the Noble Lady! Noble Lady, the small person has important matters—"

The bell rang inside the curtain, and the carriage wheels stopped.

Baoyue's voice came from inside the carriage:

"Let him go."

"Thank you, Noble Lady!!!"

"Speak."

Qian Ruoer bowed forward, saying embarrassedly:

"This matter is of great importance, if it leaks out, the small person can't afford to pay even if I lose my whole family's life..."

Baoyue's voice came through the window:

"Stop talking nonsense. You can't afford to pay for your whole family's life long ago."

Qian Ruoer swallowed his saliva, gritted his teeth, and said in a low voice:

"The Emperor is going to visit the court tomorrow to discuss matters with the Eight Seats."

The court in the Southern Dynasties does not refer to a general term, but to a specific location, in the Upper Province of the Secretariat, and also inside the palace. However, it is outside the Yunlong Gate. (Here I need to specifically talk about the palace problem, otherwise the plot below and the next two chapters will not be understood.)

The palace in TV dramas often gives people the feeling that it is a place where the emperor and concubines live, and then officials enter the palace when they go to court and leave the palace when they go down to court. Actually, it is not. Due to the theme, I will only talk about the Southern Dynasties related to this book.

The palace of the Southern Dynasties is divided into three walls. The outermost one is the palace wall, which is also the periphery of the palace. Inside the palace wall, there are many important central agencies, such as the Secretariat, the Tingwei, the Weiwei, the Sanqi Province, the military government, which is the left and right guard forbidden army, and even the Taicang and the Armory are in the palace. (Mr. Zhang Dake's note on the Zizhi Tongjian misinterprets Wang Jian's "returning to the lower province of the Secretariat" as returning home, but it is actually just not noticing that the Secretariat is in the palace.)

Any department that can be set up in the palace is either extremely important or extremely close to the Emperor. The core department among them is the Secretariat (State Council) that handles all the world's machines, so the Southern Dynasties palace is also called the Taicheng, the army sent out is called the Terrace Army, and the government moving out is called the Xing Terrace. The Terrace is the imperial court. This is why Baoyue's father's real power is far greater than Xie Xinghan's father's. Below is a sketch:

Figure a

The figure above only draws a few places, and many contents are not drawn. I will talk about them when I write about each plot. First, look at the content related to this chapter and the next two chapters. The largest box is the first wall, which is the palace, and only those whose names are recorded in the gate register of each gate can enter. Even if the high officials of each province are one-party officials, if they don't have a gate register, they can't enter the palace. This is one of the reasons why there are often additional officials and titles, not only for favor but also involving actual entry into the palace. Otherwise, if you want to go to the Secretariat to handle affairs, you have to go through a set of procedures and wait for approval before you can enter the palace. It is both troublesome and losing face. Baoyue is a royal relative, the first wall can't stop her, and her current position is to the right of that star.

The star I drew is the Yunlong Gate, which is also the second wall, called the Hall Wall. Inside is the hall area. The words used in historical books are not used casually. When writing "enter," many situations specifically refer to entering the hall area, not entering the palace.

So the Secretariat and the Gate provinces are in the hall area (so the two provinces are also called "internal provinces," but the lower provinces of the two provinces are outside, I will talk about the lower province problem in the next chapter), which is why Baoyue entrusted Yu Cong in the previous chapter, because Yu Cong is an attendant, works in the Gate Province, and can enter the hall area to find the Emperor.

But even Yu Cong cannot directly break into the bedroom area to find the Emperor, because there is a third wall inside, which is the wall after passing the Yunlong Gate, which is the wall the Emperor told Qian Ruoer in the previous chapter that if something happens, run to Shanghe. Shanghe is the gate of the third wall, leading directly to the bedroom hall. This wall is complicated to draw, so I used a straight line instead.

The emperor lives in the bedroom area and the rear palace area. Each area has many halls. The Taiji Hall is rarely used, and it is only used on a few important occasions. There are east and west halls on the left and right of the hall. The emperor's private reception can go directly from the south of the bedroom hall to the two halls for activities, which is used much more than the Taiji Hall.

But the real court is in the court of the Upper Province of the Secretariat. I drew five squares in the Secretariat, which is a simple drawing. There should be at least nine blocks, one is the court, two are the Eight Seats, the Secretariat Order + Left and Right Servant + Five Secretariat Ministers, called "Eight Seats," which is the Eight Seats Qian Ruoer said, governing twenty departments, managing all the world's affairs, and each department has an office area, all in the Secretariat. So in the Southern Dynasties historical books, whenever it says going to court, it specifically refers to the court of the Secretariat. The hundred officials discuss, the Eight Seats discuss alone, all are in the court.

This can understand why the Emperor sometimes doesn't like going to court. It's not just as simple as hating political affairs, but also a kind of psychological laziness. Just like we sometimes want to stay at home and don't want to go out to work, or would rather work at home! For the Emperor, to go to court, he has to leave the bedroom or the rear palace (the bedroom hall area is a group of palaces, I just drew it small, actually it is very large), leave the hall area, and go all the way to the Secretariat. Then it's better to receive and talk about things in the east and west halls of the Taiji Hall.

The hall area is large, and the separation between inside and outside is very obvious. So many emperors don't want to leave the hall area in their later years. For the emperor, it is to stay at home comfortably, not to mention that there is a large scenic area in this home. (North of the rear palace, Lin Garden) North of Lin Garden is Xuanwu Lake.

(The locations in the palace will be unfolded clearly bit by bit later. The geography and plot of this book are closely related. As the capital, Jiankang has far more historical literature and archaeological discoveries than Jingzhou, so my restoration of Jiankang in the second volume will also far exceed Jingzhou, which is very important for plot understanding. As for wartime, it is even more important. I try to draw more pictures in places that are not easy to understand. But sometimes it's not that I don't want to draw, but drawing takes time. Originally, the writing time is not enough, and it is easier to not finish writing if I draw.)

Baoyue heard the Emperor go to the court tomorrow to summon the Eight Seats, paused slightly, and asked after a moment:

"Is this news accurate?"

"Absolutely accurate. The small person heard Qi Mu Da... Qi Mu Zhenzhi order the carriage with his own ears. The small person is willing to guarantee with my head!"

"Good, then keep your head for now."

Qian Ruoer knew that the days of being terrified in the middle were finally coming to an end! He almost cried with joy:

"Thank you, Noble Lady Xiao! Thank you, Noble Lady Xiao!"

The carriage wheels rolled over the stone slabs, the sound rumbling.

Baoyue sat in the carriage, her expression deep, as if she was facing an extremely difficult choice.

Qian Ruoer walked back with a relaxed expression, preparing to return to Yanchang Hall.

At this time, only a violent shout was heard:

"Terrace Division inspection! Stop!"

More than twenty figures ran from the south, divided into two groups, one running toward him, one intercepting the carriage!

"Terrace Division inspection! Stop!"

"Terrace Division inspection! Stop!"

Approaching sound by sound!

Black clothes, black boots, black tablets hanging from their waists, the corners of their robes flying like crow wings!

It was the Yushi Terrace!

(The Yushi Terrace is in the south of the palace, I didn't draw it. The nearest way for Baoyue to leave the palace is to go south to the Nanye Gate. The Nanye Gate is that cross-convex shape in Figure a, and it is also the direction from which the Yushi Terrace people came.)

The Yushi Terrace in TV dramas always gives people the feeling that it only knows how to talk, but in fact, since the Eastern Han Dynasty, the authority of the Yushi Terrace has been extremely great. The Terrace Master Yushi Zhongcheng (Minister of Supervision and Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission) manages judicial officials below and supervises all officials above. During the Jin Dynasty, it supervised the inside and outside with the Sili Captain. The Yushi Zhongcheng was stationed in the palace. Within the palace, from the Crown Prince down, anyone who violated the law could be corrected! If there was a violation outside the palace and the supervisor didn't correct it, it could also be corrected! In the Southern Dynasties, the power was even greater, and there was nothing it didn't supervise!

However, no matter how great the Yushi is, it cannot enter the inner palace. (Third wall)

Qian Ruoer remembered the "life-saving recipe" the Emperor taught him to run into Shanghe, and ran toward Yunlong Gate!

But he was intercepted by the legal officials with rich "case-handling experience," surrounded on all sides, and held by the left and right!

Baoyue's carriage was also intercepted!

——————

Note: 1. Mr. Gu Zongbin, based on the historical material that the Emperor wanted to go out at night to open the Guangmo Gate but the Yushi didn't open it in the "Biography of Wang Tanzhi," believes that "the Yushi Terrace of the Liu Song Dynasty also managed the opening and closing of the palace city gates. Based on this, it should be inferred that the Yushi Terrace was set up in the palace." Also, with the "staying in the middle" theory: "The Yushi Terrace of the Wei, Jin, and Southern Dynasties was probably always set up in the palace." ("On the 'Going Out' and 'Staying in the Middle' Issues of the Yushi Zhongcheng in the Han Dynasty," "Cai Bu Cai Zhai Collection")

I agree. Now I add three proofs. I am too sleepy to write them all, just write them briefly. 1. During Su Jun's rebellion, Emperor Cheng of Jin stopped at Lantai and sat, not covering the cold and heat, so he built a palace. Sitting is going to court. Lantai is the Yushi Terrace. 2. Yu Li asked to stop outside the city because the forbidden area is not a private residence. (It is outside the Taicheng, outside the palace) The Emperor didn't allow it, so he ordered him to live in Lantai. 3. Cui Huijing burned Lantai as a battlefield when he attacked the Taicheng, and Xiao Chang was stationed at the Nanye Gate, disposing of the city, and the crowd felt a little at ease. Nanye Gate is shown in Figure a, which is the south gate of the palace. Looking at the battle situation and Cui Huijing's use of military law, the South Terrace is not on the edge of the palace city, and burning it makes no sense, and it is not easy to justify as a battlefield. Only by burning the Yushi Terrace and having a gap in the palace can there be offensive and defensive exchanges. Xiao Chang leading the army to be stationed at the Nanye Gate can calm people's hearts, which can be proof that the Yushi Terrace is on the south side. These three items are not enough if they are established alone, and each item can find gaps to interpret separately, but if they are established together, the possibility of the Yushi Terrace being in the palace increases greatly.

I am accompanying my mother to shop, stop for one day, update on the 15th, which is Sunday.