Unexpectedly, as soon as Chen Xiang left the Chonghua Palace, a young eunuch came to announce the summons under the order of the Queen Mother.
Chen Xiang felt happy in his heart, but his face showed a frightened and uneasy expression.
Following the young eunuch to the Yinghua Hall, Chen Xiang saluted, and Empress Dowager Sun scolded her head and face: "Chen Xiang, you are so bold.
How dare you once again instigate the emperor to summon the concubines? Since you consider yourself to be the eunuch Bingbi, the eunuch in charge of rituals, I don’t dare to deal with you, right? "
Chen Xiang did not defend himself, but kowtowed to plead guilty.
This really stumped Empress Dowager Sun. Chen Xiang was not only the eunuch Bingbi, the Superintendent of Ceremonies, but also a close confidant of the Emperor Gongrang. It was really difficult for him to deal with it.
There was no choice, Empress Dowager Sun could only curse back and forth, but Chen Xiang only kowtowed from beginning to end and did not hold his tongue.
In the end, Queen Mother Sun had to let Chen Xiang go.
As soon as Chen Xiang left the Yinghua Hall, Queen Mother Sun winked at Gao Ping: "Gao Ping, you have been working very hard recently. I will give you a few days off. Go out and relax."
Gao Ping understood and quickly bowed and resigned.
Chen Xiang strolled slowly to Xiwu Institute, and Gao Ping caught up from behind.
Zhu Qizhen ordered Chen Xiang to win over Gao Ping and be his spy; Queen Mother Sun ordered Gao Ping to win over Chen Xiang and be her spy.
It's a coincidence that both parties thought of going together.
Empress Dowager Sun originally had spies in Nangong, but the number was not large enough, and there were often gaps in monitoring Emperor Gongrang.
Therefore, it is very meaningful to win over Chen Xiang.
Gao Ping and Chen Xiang walked together, complaining to each other about the difficulty of their jobs.
As soon as they walked outside the Xuanwu Gate, the two of them were already brothers in need, and they sympathized with each other.
The two of them were eunuchs Bingbi, the eunuch who was responsible for the rituals, and they were always very harmonious, so Chen Xiang suggested: "It's still so early, and there is nothing to do when I go home. How about we go to Jietianlou for a drink?"
Then we go to the Goddess Pavilion and listen to Miss Xi'er playing a little tune. Wouldn't it be nice? "
Gao Ping knew that Chen Xiang had been scolded by the Queen Mother and needed to spend some money to vent his anger. He was feeling sulky, so of course he couldn't let the fun out any longer, so he smiled and said:
"Mr. Chen has been wronged and must give me a chance today. All the expenses for the evening will be covered by me."
Chen Xiang waved his hand quickly: "Brother, you are looking down on Brother Yu. You have just become the eunuch of Bingbi. How much wealth can you save?
Let's spend one night at Jietian Tower and Shennu Pavilion, and we can't afford it even for a thousand taels of silver. "
Hearing this, Gao Ping opened his mouth in surprise. I have never been there before. This night will cost a young eunuch a lifetime salary.
Chen Xiang was very satisfied when he saw Gao Ping's appearance of having never seen the world before. He quickly pulled Gao Ping and said with a smile, "Don't think about those troublesome things. Let's go. Brother Yu will take you to have a long experience."
Everything will be taken care of by Brother Yu tonight. Brother Yu just looks down on Brother Yu. "
When Gao Ping saw this, he no longer shied away. The two went to Jie Tianlou to have dinner, and then went to the Goddess Pavilion nearby to listen to Li Xier singing.
Chen Xiang was being very conservative. In fact, it would cost one thousand taels for the two of them to listen to Li Xier sing a tune for one night.
In order to win over Gao Ping, Chen Xiang appointed two more stunning beauties to accompany him.
One night, a total of one thousand seven hundred taels was spent.
Early the next morning, Gao Ping walked out of the Goddess Pavilion in a daze, shaking his head and praising: "No wonder Mingyufang is called the Gold Selling Cave. The money is being spent like running water. It's so scary."
Since the deal had been settled last night, Chen Xiang took Gao Ping to the small courtyard that he had prepared.
Chen Xiang successfully gave the small courtyard and silver to Gao Ping, and both of them completed their tasks.
Gao Ping agreed to deliver the news to Emperor Gongrang, while Chen Xiang agreed to monitor Nangong for the Queen Mother.
The good inner court was surrounded by intrigues and spies.
Chen Xiang didn't know that Gao Ping was Zhu Qiyu's person, and Gao Ping didn't know that Chen Xiang was Zhu Qiyu's person.
The two of them didn't even know that most of the money they spent yesterday went into Zhu Qiyu's pocket.
At noon, Zhu Qiyu was lying on the couch, looking at the secret reports collected today.
When he saw Gao Ping and Chen Xiang spending more than a thousand taels of silver in the Goddess Pavilion in one night, Zhu Qiyu himself became uneasy.
Zhu Qiyu had never seen an account book before, and he didn't know that prices were so high. He couldn't help but sigh sincerely: "Our businesses are too profitable."
Qianxue shook her head: "There is no way, our brand is strong. Some time ago, the slave family bought all the houses and vacant land around Jietian Building and Goddess Pavilion. Let's build two more lofts to expand the scale of the industry. .”
Zhu Qiyu asked curiously: "When did you buy the land? Why didn't I know?"
Qianxue teased: "Husband, you are so embarrassed to ask. It was around the Chinese New Year. During that time, the other sisters were pregnant, and we were not even old yet. Then you only doted on Ningxiang and hung on her every day. Come down.
You yourself have also specially emphasized that I should not tell you a word about the household affairs. You don't want to hear or know. "
Zhu Qiyu nodded sheepishly: "Yes, yes, I said it. I was wrong, and I will make amends to my mother-in-law."
Qianxue smiled and said: "Husband, please pay attention. The contents of Wei Shangshu's previous memorial have been spread among the people. I heard that you are going to carry out the capital inspection and the big plan, and all the civil and military officials are not happy.
You also want to return the power of selection to the Ministry of Personnel. Many ministers are very resistant.
Husband, you are in big trouble. "
Upon hearing this, Zhu Qiyu fell on the soft couch and sighed: "I want to make some contribution to the Ming Dynasty and do something practical for the people, but why is it so difficult?
I'm obviously a normal person, but why do so many people come after me and accuse me of being mentally ill? "
There are some things that cannot be explained clearly, and Zhu Qiyu himself is speechless: Sanyang deceived Xuanzong about the recommendation system, forget it, and don't bother to talk to them.
The problem is that Xuanzong, Yingzong, Xianzong and Xiaozong are all staunch supporters of the recommendation system, which makes people scratch their heads.
Another strange thing here is that in history, Jingtai supported Quanxuan.
Therefore, Jingtai seemed out of place with the emperors before and after him.
Zhu Qiyu shook his head helplessly. He finally had something in common with the Emperor Jingtai in history.
Generally speaking, in each period of the Ming Dynasty, the cabinet and the six ministries were secretly fighting for power.
For example, during the Sanyang period, the struggle between the cabinet and the Ministry of Personnel for the power to select officials was very typical.
In the case of cabinet victory, the most typical one is Zhang Juzheng, who ranks as the first assistant and acts like a regent.
The most typical example of the victory of the Six Ministries is that of Yu Qian in history. A minister of the Ministry of War overwhelmed the cabinet.
Zhu Qiyu himself chose to strike a balance. Taking advantage of the opportunity after Sanyang, the power of the cabinet was temporarily greatly reduced; taking advantage of the opportunity after Tumubao, when many important ministers unfortunately died for the country; to regain the power of selection for the Ministry of Personnel.
It is quite strange that the emperor personally went out and actively participated in the power struggle between the cabinet and the six ministries.
Seeing her husband's sad face, Qianxue was on the verge of tears, so she quickly changed the subject to a lighter topic: "Husband, take a look, the Chief of Ceremonies has sent a renovation plan for Renshou Palace."
Zhu Qiyu asked angrily: "I won't read it, just tell them what they want to do."
"Because Wang Cheng was in charge of the imperial seal, but he was sent out by his husband on errands, and no one in the imperial prison was in charge. Therefore, the renovation of Renshou Palace was discussed by several of the ceremonial officers.
Forget it if you don't like the drawings. The materials for building the palace will be borrowed from other palaces according to your wishes.
The plan given by the Director of Ceremonies was to demolish the Qin'an Palace in the Imperial Garden, as well as the Changchun Palace and Xianfu Palace in the West Sixth Palace area.
Do you want to agree? "
When Zhu Qiyu heard this, he asked curiously: "Whose people are these Lijian Bingbi? After the Qianqing Palace was burned down by fire, Empress Qian temporarily lived in Changchun Palace.
It turns out that as soon as she moved out, you had to demolish the palace where she lived. Isn't that a bit disrespectful? "
Qianxue smiled and said: "You see, they were afraid that a few powerful people would have objections, so it was clearly written in the memorial that the demolition plan of the old palace proposed by Chen Xiang was seconded by Xing'an, Wang Jin, Ruan Lang, Ruan Xi, and Cao Jixiang , the others did not object. Then I reported to my husband."
"Oh, then I understand. It was my eldest brother Gong who asked the emperor to demolish the Changchun Palace. The internal fighting in the imperial city is really dizzying."
(End of chapter)
