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In this world, the strong always get stronger and the weak get weaker.
The reason is simple. Everyone is more optimistic about the future prospects of the strong. The stronger the company, the more support it will receive from all aspects. Investing in the strong can often reap more returns.
As for the weak, they can only fend for themselves.
The reason why people talk about "hoeing the strong and supporting the weak" is because it is an extremely rare phenomenon.
It's the same as pie painting. The pie drawn by the weak and weak will only make people laugh, but the pie drawn by the strong and powerful is more fragrant and persuasive.
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In recent days, Xu Sheng, the eunuch in charge of the Royal Horse Guards, looks like a strong man riding the wind.
Because Xu Sheng found clues to the "Three Saints of the South China Sea", he naturally made great achievements and received special treatment from Emperor Deqing. Not only did he repeatedly summon his companions, but his attitude was also quite cordial.
As a result, Xu Sheng was able to steal the show in the inner court, and he had already surpassed Wu Xinquan, the Supervisor of Ceremonies. There were even rumors that Emperor Deqing intended to let Xu Sheng take over Wu Xinquan's position.
On this day, when Emperor Deqing paid a private visit to the "Tongji Temple" incognito, he deliberately brought Xu Sheng with him, which was enough to show that Xu Sheng's current status as a holy family member was high.
But he said that after Xu Sheng accompanied Emperor Deqing to the "Tongji Temple", he only felt that his relationship with Emperor Deqing was closer. He couldn't help but feel proud of the spring breeze. He only felt that his body was several kilograms lighter and he walked lightly. .
When he walked into the Yumajian Yamen with his head raised while humming a little tune, he heard a report that Li Ru'an, the eunuch in charge of the Royal Study, had come to visit and was waiting in the main hall of the Yumajian Yamen.
After hearing the report, Xu Sheng felt even more happy. He was now full of pride and wanted to find someone to share it with. Li Ruan not only had a close relationship with him and lived with him as a master and apprentice in private, but also had a slightly lower status than him. , which allows Xu Sheng to brag without any scruples, making him the best candidate to share.
Therefore, Xu Sheng hurriedly went to see Li Ru'an, and after the meeting, he began to brag about his current status as a saint.
"...Well, you didn't see the situation with your own eyes! After our family served His Majesty after finishing his trip to the Tongji Temple, we and Zhang De escorted His Majesty back to the palace, and then guess what? Your Majesty He actually nodded and smiled at our family!
ha! Your Majesty has always had a harsh attitude towards the inner court, but he rarely smiled with the likes of us in the past! But His Majesty once again smiled at our family without saying a word today! Counting the previous two times, this is already the third time recently!
Then, His Majesty said to our family - 'Xu Sheng, your affairs in the yamen are also very heavy, so there is no need to continue to accompany me'! Listen! Listen! Your Majesty is no longer like before, he just yells at our family, but he actually takes the initiative to care about our family's heavy workload! What kind of holy family is this? What a holy family! "
After saying that, Xu Sheng's expression was full of emotion and pride. He immediately picked up the tea cup and drank it all in one gulp. Then he felt that drinking tea was not enough, and ordered the little eunuch on the side to bring the wine immediately.
Seeing Xu Sheng's almost oblivious energy, Li Ruan was filled with disdain, but his subsequent words just scratched Xu Sheng's itch, and he said with a smile: "Yes, Governor Xu is so beautiful. It’s really a pity that this junior didn’t see it with his own eyes... But what I regret more is that Wu Xinquan didn’t see this scene with his own eyes, otherwise his expression would have been wonderful!”
The Si Lijian and the Yuma Jian are the two most powerful yamen in the inner court. They often fight openly and covertly. Wu Xinquan and Xu Sheng are sworn enemies. Unfortunately, the power of the Yuma Jian is weaker than that of the Si Lijian. Xu Sheng's own intelligence and methods were obviously inferior to Wu Xinquan's, so over the years Wu Xinquan had been steadily suppressing Xu Sheng, while Xu Sheng himself dreamed of suppressing Wu Xinquan.
Therefore, after hearing what Li Ru'an said, Xu Sheng suddenly became more proud and excited, nodding his head and saying: "Ru'an, you are indeed a close person, our family thought so too at the time!
If that old fox Wu Xinquan sees His Majesty's closeness to our family, his face will be as black as the bottom of a pot! Haha, next time our family must look for an opportunity for Wu Xinquan to see with his own eyes His Majesty’s holy support for our family! "
Talking about the happy place, Xu Sheng became more and more carried away. Not only was he addicted to fantasy, but he also promised Li Ru'an to draw cakes and said: "There are many rumors in the palace right now, saying that His Majesty is determined to let our family take over the ceremony. Supervisor, there is no smoke without smoke. We think this is indeed very possible!
At that time, Wu Xinquan will probably be sent out by His Majesty to become a local guard eunuch, and he will have no choice but to leave the center of the capital in despair... However, if our family takes over the position of the Chief Eunuch, the position of the Royal Horse Eunuch's palm print will be It's empty, and it must be handed over to a reliable person! "
After saying that, Xu Sheng looked at Li Ru'an with a smile and asked: "Ru'an, are you interested in taking over our position? Although the position of eunuch in charge of the imperial study room can be often accompanied, but the authority is too low, and he cannot take charge of it alone. , after all, it can only be used as a transition! If you are interested, when our family takes over as the Supervisor of Ceremonies in the future, we will fully recommend you to His Majesty!"
Li Ruan was completely uninterested in Xu Sheng's painted cakes, and just felt that Xu Sheng was too carried away.
Xu Sheng seems to be a powerful man now, but Li Ru'an knows very well that Xu Sheng's opportunities today are all due to Zhao Junchen's behind-the-scenes promotion, and his fate is all due to the temporary happiness and anger of Emperor Deqing. , he is just a fake strong man.
Zhao Junchen can lift Xu Sheng up secretly now, and he will naturally have the means to throw Xu Sheng down in the future. Emperor Deqing is in a good mood today and smiles at Xu Sheng without saying a word, but in the future, he may be in a bad mood someday. He will be killed without any warning.
If it was Zhao Junchen and Emperor Deqing's painting cake, Li Ru'an would definitely call it "Zhenxiang", but for Xu Sheng's painting cake, he would not take it seriously at all.
What's more, Li Ru'an didn't think that Emperor Deqing would really let Xu Sheng take over as the Director of Ceremonies. After all, Xu Sheng had been running the Royal Horse Supervisor for many years and his influence was deep-rooted. Under such circumstances, if Xu Sheng was allowed to take over again. The ceremonial supervisor is equivalent to Xu Sheng controlling the two most powerful yamen in the inner court at the same time!
And Emperor Deqing has always been well versed in the emperor's mind and balance. Even if he is temporarily obsessed with immortality, even if he is obsessed with Xu Sheng's holy family, he will never tolerate such a situation.
But Xu Sheng couldn't even think of such a situation, which made Li Ruan despise him even more.
Of course, Li Ru'an pretended to be overjoyed and flattered on the surface, and even knelt down to thank Xu Sheng for his attention and admiration. This satisfied Xu Sheng's vanity, and then he naturally boasted endlessly. .
In fact, the reason why Li Ruan came to see Xu Sheng today was because of Zhao Junchen's instruction, because he wanted to inquire in detail about Emperor Deqing's private visit in private.
By now, Li Ru'an had successfully obtained all the information from Xu Sheng, and was planning to say goodbye and leave.
However, when Xu Sheng's bragging finally came to an end, Li Ru'an was about to find a reason to leave when he saw a young eunuch hurriedly entered the room and reported to Xu Sheng: "Xu Sheng, the Seventh Prince and His Highness the Seventh Prince are here to serve us. The horse is in charge!"
After hearing the report, Xu Sheng was shocked. He suddenly sobered up from the drunkenness caused by drinking a few glasses of wine. He immediately stood up and said, "The Seventh Prince is here? Come with me to greet him!"
Although Xu Sheng is now overwhelmed with pride, he still remembers his identity after all, and naturally he does not dare to neglect when facing the seventh prince Zhu Hejian.
Seeing this situation, Li Ruan's eyes flashed, but he also gave up the idea of leaving, and just followed Xu Sheng to meet the seventh prince Zhu Hejian.
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But he said that when Li Ruan followed Xu Sheng outside the imperial palace, he saw the seventh prince Zhu Hejian and the eunuch Jia Lun beside Zhu Hejian at a glance.
After Li Ruan made eye contact with Jia Lun for a moment, he immediately followed Xu Sheng to salute Zhu Hejian and greet him.
"Xu Neichen doesn't need to be polite...ah, Li Neichen is here too! I've long heard that the two of them are good teachers and helpful friends. Now that it's true, it's really enviable!"
Zhu Hejian still had a warm smile on his face as always, and he personally helped Xu Sheng and Li Ru'an, with a very close attitude.
Next, after Zhu Hejian exchanged a few polite words with Xu Sheng and Li Ru'an, they entered the main hall of the Yuma Prison Yamen to continue their conversation. During this period, he praised Xu Sheng a lot, saying that he had always admired Xu Sheng's ability and loyalty, and he also kept it secret. Hinting at his support for Xu Sheng's future taking over as Supervisor of Ceremonies, Xu Sheng became even more proud.
In fact, Zhu Hejian suddenly came to Yumajian Yamen today for three purposes. One of them was to draw cakes, bribe, and get closer to each other - to draw cakes for Xu Sheng.
Xu Sheng's status in the inner court has risen rapidly these days. Zhu Hejian naturally sees it and will not remain indifferent to it no matter what.
After all, although Zhu Hejian has secretly penetrated the inner court very deeply, he has always affected the operation of various yamen in the inner court through Wu Xinquan, the chief of etiquette, and because of the secret quarrel between Wu Xinquan and Xu Sheng, the past relationship between Zhu Hejian and Xu Sheng The relationship is relatively distant, not as close as Wu Xinquan's.
Now seeing that Xu Sheng's status in the inner court has a tendency to surpass that of Wu Xinquan, in order to continue to consolidate his penetration and influence in the inner court, Zhu Hejian naturally tried to get closer to Xu Sheng as a remedy.
But in fact, Zhu Hejian himself admires Wu Xinquan, who is more sophisticated and scheming. Xu Sheng has always been a dispensable figure in his future plans, so his statement is just a painting, and he has no intention of actually doing so. Xu Sheng should be reused.
However, Zhu Hejian is the quasi-prince. Regardless of his scheming means or his status and power, he is a truly powerful man who ranks among the best in the temple. Compared with Li Ru'an's disapproval of Xu Sheng's painting cakes, Xu Sheng only enjoys Zhu Hejian's painting cakes. , Can't stop.
In this way, in just half a stick of incense, with Zhu Hejian's deliberate closeness, Xu Sheng had completely eliminated the grudge in his heart, and repeatedly stated that he would fully support the seventh prince Zhu Hejian in the future.
Seeing the change in Xu Sheng's expression, Zhu Hejian knew that he had achieved the first goal, so he changed the subject and began to ask Xu Sheng about Emperor Deqing's private visit incognito today - this was also the second project of his trip. of.
Regarding Zhu Hejian's inquiry, Xu Sheng hesitated for a moment, and finally picked out some things he could tell and told Zhu Hejian.
After learning that Emperor Deqing valued Zhang Daoquan, the chief abbot of the "Tongji Temple", Zhu Hejian couldn't help but ponder for a moment. There seemed to be a trace of hesitation in his expression, but he returned to normal in an instant.
Finally, Zhu Hejian began to implement the third goal of his trip.
"Actually, the reason why I came to visit the Royal Horse Prison today was mainly because I heard a piece of news by chance. I don't know whether this news is true or false, but it is of great importance. I didn't dare to neglect it, so I wanted to notify the factory guard to investigate... I originally I wanted to notify the East Factory, where the Supervisor of Ceremonies belongs, but the East Factory has a lot of tasks recently, and I am afraid that it cannot spare the manpower and energy, so I came to the Yuma Supervisor Yamen to visit Xu Neichen, hoping that Xu Neichen could mobilize the West Factory. Force to investigate.”
As he spoke, Zhu Hejian's expression gradually became serious.
Seeing Zhu Hejian's performance, Xu Sheng did not dare to neglect and asked quickly: "Oh? I wonder what the news is?"
Zhu Hejian said slowly: "I accidentally learned that... there was a secret society in the capital. This secret society actually called itself the Great Expert Factory, recruiting people everywhere, and secretly infiltrated all walks of life in the government and the public. Even the inner court is now They also planted spies!"
Xu Sheng's expression suddenly changed: "Inner factory? How is it possible? If the inner factory is rebuilt, how can there be no news about me as the Royal Horse Supervisor? This must be someone acting under a false name! He even pretended to be the inner court Yamen. It's so big Courage!"
After Zhu Hejian nodded lightly, he smiled and said: "With Xu Neichen's method and wisdom, it will be easy to investigate this secret society, and I will leave everything to Xu Neichen!
However, I am not the real crown prince yet, and it is not convenient for me to come forward for many things. Therefore, if the results of this matter are found out, Xu Neichen does not have to reveal my relationship. He can accept the merits from his father alone... Now Xu Neichen is in the limelight. Zhengsheng, if you take advantage of this opportunity to make another great contribution, you might really be able to take the opportunity to take over as the Supervisor of Ceremonies! "
"This...how is this so embarrassing!?"
Xu Sheng was obviously moved, but when he faced Zhu Hejian, he did not dare to take all the credit and immediately waved his hands.
Zhu Hejian continued to smile and said: "We are all our own people. If Xu Neichen becomes more holy, it will only benefit me... What's more, with my current status, even if I make some achievements, my father I don’t have much to reward me, so I might as well let Xu Neichen take all the credit!”
"In this case...then our family is ashamed of it! If our family makes meritorious service due to this news in the future, we will definitely not dare to forget the support of you, the Seventh Prince!"
In the end, Xu Sheng agreed to Zhu Hejian's proposal. He felt that he had taken a big advantage and smiled happily.
On the other side, Zhu Hejian still smiled sincerely, nodded and said again: "I'll leave everything to Xu Neichen!"
At the same time, seeing the exchange between Zhu Hejian and Xu Sheng, Li Ruan's eyes flickered, and he felt that Zhu Hejian's purpose was by no means simple.
But now that Zhu Hejian was right in front of him, he hesitated for a moment and finally did not remind Xu Sheng. He just thought that what happened today must be reported to Zhao Junchen.
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