"The decree has been sent." asked the young man sitting on the dragon couch.
And he is Zhu Youjian, the emperor of tomorrow who has just ascended the throne.
The great eunuch Wang Chengen who was serving on the side bowed and said, "To report to the emperor, Eunuch Cao personally went to Eunuch Wei to deliver the message."
"Humph, this castrate is really cheap." Zhu Youjian snorted coldly.
There was no change in the faces of the eunuchs waiting around. As long as the eunuch in Zhu You's mouth was not scolding him, they would not take it seriously.
Wang Chengen replaced Zhu Youjian with a new cup of tea.
"Get up, I want to see the Holy One."
A loud scolding sound suddenly came from outside the hall.
Zhu Youjian, who was sitting on the dragon bed, frowned slightly when he heard the noise outside the palace, and said to Wang Chengen beside him: "My dear friend, are you going out to take a look?"
"Yes." Wang Chengen responded and retreated outside the hall.
As soon as he came out, he saw Minister Gu Ming Lai Zongdao being blocked outside the palace by several young eunuchs.
"What's going on? Don't you know that the emperor is resting inside? I've angered the emperor and sent all of you to the clothing bureau." Wang Chengen scolded with a cold face.
When several young eunuchs saw Wang Chengen coming out, they hurriedly stepped aside.
At this time, Lai Zongdao also saw Wang Chengen, and immediately said: "My lord, I have something urgent to go to see the Holy Master. Could you please go in and report to me."
"This is you, Mr. Lai Ge. Please wait a moment. We will go in and report to you." Wang Chengen put on a smile in front of Lai Zongdao.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Lai Zongdao bowed his hand.
Wang Chengen said with a smile on his face: "You are welcome to come to the pavilion. We will go in and report to you."
With that said, he turned around and entered the palace.
Lai Zongdao stopped rushing in and waited patiently outside the hall.
Wang Chengen, who had returned to the palace, came to the dragon bed and whispered: "Go back to your Majesty, Lai Ge Lao is asking for an audience outside the palace."
"What are these minions doing? Why did they keep Mr. Lai Ge out? Please invite people in quickly." Zhu Youjian stood up from the dragon couch excitedly.
However, he thought that he was no longer the prince living in Prince Xin's Mansion, but the emperor, so he sat back down again.
Wang Chengen bowed and said, "I will go and bring this person in now."
With that said, he turned around and walked out.
"As well as the few slaves blocking the hall, send them all to the Huanyi Bureau. Forget it, we won't send them to the Huanyi Bureau. Let's play ten boards each!" Zhu Youjian said to Wang Chengen.
He had always disliked the eunuchs in the palace, but when he thought that these eunuchs stopped Lai Zongdao because of him as the emperor, the punishment of being sent to the Clothing Bureau was a bit serious, so he changed his mind.
Wang Chengen stopped, turned around and said respectfully: "I have taken note of this."
After a short time, Lai Zongdao was brought into the palace.
"I come to Zongdao to see your Majesty." When Lai Zongdao saw Zhu Youjian, he bowed and saluted.
Zhu Youjian raised his right hand with a smile on his face and said: "Come on, dear sir, please get up quickly. My dear companion, I will give you a seat."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Lai Zongdao bowed again to express his gratitude.
A young eunuch with quick feet brought an embroidered pier and placed it beside Lai Zongdao.
After Zhu Youjian waited for Lai Zongdao to sit down, he asked, "Come to see me, Ai Qing, but what happened to the court?"
Among the ministers in the cabinet, only Lai Zongdao gained his trust the most.
One is because of Lai Zongdao's status as minister Gu Ming, and the other is that he was able to successfully ascend to Dabao, and Lai Zongdao also had the merit of supporting him.
Especially when both the first and second ministers of the cabinet are related to the eunuch party, Lai Zongdao receives more attention.
"I heard that your Majesty has ordered Wei Zhongxian to go to Fengyang?" As he spoke, Lai Zongdao stood up from the embroidered pier.
Zhu Youjian, who was sitting on the dragon couch, nodded and said, "Emperor Daxing told me before he died. I couldn't go against Emperor Daxing's last words, so I asked him to go to Fengyang."
"Your Majesty, you can't! If Wei Zhongxian is not eliminated, his party will still cause trouble in the court. I ask your Majesty to issue an order to arrest Wei Zhongxian and hold him accountable." Lai Zongdao bowed and begged.
Zhu Youjian's face darkened when he heard this, and he said: "I have already promised to the emperor, do you want me to break my promise to the emperor? Well, let's not talk about this matter."
He didn't want to kill Wei Zhongxian in his heart, but he didn't want his reputation to be damaged. When he was still in Xinwangfu, he thought that if he had the chance, he would become a Shengshiming, but he also didn't want to act like he couldn't wait to kill the emperor as soon as he passed away. The reputation of killing the ministers of the Daxing Emperor.
When he came to Zongdao to see Zhu Youjian, he really got angry again. The words he wanted to persuade later were swallowed back in his stomach.
"If you have nothing to do with me, please leave. I'm a little tired." Zhu Youjian was already unhappy.
Since he ascended the throne, the most memorials he has received were all about impeaching Wei Zhongxian, and he was very dissatisfied that these ministers did not consider his reputation as the emperor at all.
"I have one more thing, please allow me to finish." Lai Zongdao's posture was extremely low, not showing off his reputation as a minister who cares about life.
Zhu Youjian thought that he would talk about Wei Zhongxian when he came to Zongdao, so he said directly: "If it is related to Wei Zhongxian, stop talking about it. I don't want to hear it anymore."
"What I want to talk to your Majesty is about the Liu bandits in the northwest." Lai Zongdao brought up the matter about the Tiger Flag.
Zhu Youjian looked serious after hearing this.
This is the first court matter that he has heard about since he came to the throne that has nothing to do with Wei Zhongxian.
Lai Zongdao noticed Zhu Youjian's interest, so he continued: "Recently, the cabinet received a report from the local government. Liu Thief is recruiting a large army to the border with Henan."
"Ai Qing means Liu Thief is preparing to invade Henan?" Zhu Youjian frowned.
Not long after he ascended the throne, the Wei eunuchs had not yet been wiped out, but the Liu thieves in the northwest showed signs of using troops against Henan, and the pressure on him suddenly increased.
Lai Zongdao said: "We do not rule out the possibility of Liu Tie sending troops to Henan. Your Majesty, please make plans in advance."
"How did the cabinet solve the problem in the past?" Zhu Youjian was not used to the status of the emperor for a while. He couldn't think of a way to solve the problem of the tiger-character flag, so he had to ask Lai Zongdao for help.
In his opinion, since Liu Thief had rebelled against the Ming Dynasty for so long, the cabinet must have a way to deal with it.
At this time, he still had considerable trust in the cabinet.
After all, he didn't like Jin Yiwei or Dongchang, and he believed more in the cabinet that valued civil servants.
Lai Zongdao said: "Before, the cabinet has always wanted to recruit Liu thief and give him a knighthood. Now he is using Liu thief's hand to deal with the slave thieves in Liaodong, so that the two thieves can fight against each other and weaken the strength of the two thieves."
"You want to be knighted?" Zhu Youjian frowned.
Giving a knighthood to a rebel made him feel very uncomfortable.
Lai Zongdao said: "Emperor Daxing once agreed to give Liu Tie a count, but Liu Tie didn't accept it, so he let it go."
"A thief still doesn't accept it?" Zhu Youjian's eyes suddenly widened.
He never expected that his royal brother would really intend to knight a rebel.
