Not long after, Wan An entered the dining room.
The two exchanged pleasantries: "Eunuch Huai'en."
"Chief Assistant, please sit down quickly."
Huaien pointed at Chang Feng: "This is my newly adopted grandson, Chang Feng. He used to be a general of the Han Dynasty in the East Palace. The chief assistant should have seen him."
Wan An nodded: "I have seen him before. I have long thought that he is handsome and extraordinary. He is not a thing in the pool."
After saying that, Wan An took a gift list from his sleeve and handed it to Wynn with both hands.
Wynn shied away: "Why is this so embarrassing?"
Wan An smiled and said: "Eunuch Huaien has returned to Beijing. Naturally, I should send you a generous gift to congratulate him."
Chang Feng glanced at the gift list from the side. He thought to himself: Good guy, Wan An is doing something extraordinary. The first line reads "I would like to congratulate you on one thousand taels of silver". It seems that Wan An came to ask the godfather to help him keep his title of chief assistant.
The three of them sat down and exchanged drinks.
Wynn suddenly changed the topic and pointed at Chang Feng: "The waves behind the Yangtze River push the waves ahead, and a new generation replaces the old."
"Chief Assistant, we are all old people. We are old and frail, and our energy is low."
"It's time to make room for the newcomers."
Wynn is hinting to Wan An: You should resign immediately! Isn't it nice to give yourself some respect?
For those who have achieved great things in ancient and modern times, finding a substitute is their first priority, such as Emperor Hongzhi.
Taking shamelessness as the second priority, such as Liu Ji.
Pretending to be confused is the third priority, such as Wan'an.
Wan An is a master at pretending to be confused.
He pretended not to understand the implication of Wynn's words, and started talking nonsense again: "Ah, the waves of the Yangtze River, this flood is a big deal. Ah, it doesn't mean that we don't control the water."
"You know that, the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Works. Water control has always been a matter of conscience, and my father-in-law must understand it. Right?"
Wynn frowned. He directly said: "Chief Assistant. I went to have a deep talk with Mr. Liu Jue this afternoon. He wants to resign and return to his hometown."
The implication of Wynn's words is: Liu Jue has gone away, so you can stop occupying the toilet in the cabinet.
Wan An continued to pretend to be confused: "Ah. Colleagues are better than brotherhood. I have worked with Liu Jue for so many years, right. When he returns to his hometown, I will go to the city to see him off, right."
"The farewell poems of the ancients were well written. What about long pavilions, green willows, sunsets, and turbid wine? Ah, Eunuch Huai'en is also a person who understands poetry. It is extremely rare among internal officials..."
Wynn couldn't laugh or cry. He lost his patience: "The chief minister is seventy this year, right? He is in his seventies. Wouldn't it be beautiful to return to his roots after the leaves fall, and entertain his grandchildren with joy?"
Wan An vowed to continue pretending to be confused: "Yes, yes. My eldest grandson is fifteen years old this year and can eat a roast duck for one meal. As you know, I am very poor."
"No matter how poor you are, you still have to buy a roast duck for your eldest grandson every day. As the saying goes, no matter how hard it is, you can't make the child suffer, right?"
"As for roast duck, Chengdong Piaoxiang is the best. It has a different flavor from Nanjing salted duck."
"My father-in-law must have tasted salted duck in Nanjing, right? Isn't it a delicacy in the world?"
Wan An's nonsense made Wynn's head grow three times.
Huaien said: "I am too drunk. First assistant, I will go back to the bedroom to rest first, and you can do it yourself. Changfeng, help me back to the bedroom."
This is tantamount to the host issuing an eviction order.
Wan An stood up: "Ah, then I'll take my leave first."
After Wan An left, Wynn cursed angrily: "What the hell? He's full of nonsense. Is he worthy of being the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty?"
Chang Feng added a glass of wine to Hua En: "Master, calm down."
Wynn asked Chang Feng: "Do you know what Jin Yiwei is?"
Chang Feng said: "Please give me some advice."
Wynn explained: "Jin Yiwei is the dagger in the emperor's sleeve. He wants to get rid of people like Wan An for the emperor."
"Wan'an acted cautiously. Although the corpse was in plain sight, there was no obvious reason. It would be difficult for the emperor to publicly dismiss him."
"This requires Jin Yiwei's dagger in his sleeve to take action."
Chang Feng said: "You mean, let me trick him? Just like the imperial concubine's party tampered with the Cai Mansion's letter box?"
Wynn shook his head slightly: "No. He is the chief assistant after all. To move him, you need the emperor's nod."
"I'll try to persuade him tomorrow. I hope he knows what's wrong and resigns on his own initiative."
"Look at Liu Jue. I told him in the afternoon, 'The waves behind the Yangtze River push the waves ahead.' He wrote a resignation memorial directly in the cabinet duty room."
"Dasun, I will teach you something again - whether you are a human being or an official, you need to know how to advance and retreat."
The next day, Chang Feng came to Jinyiwei Dianmao.
Sun Luan, the governor of Beizhen, said: "Brother Chang, you did a good job in checking the property of Wanfu."
"I have another errand for you today. Shang Ming has been demoted to Xiaoling Sixiang and will leave the capital in three days. You are going to confiscate his property today."
After speaking, Sun Luan handed the opened driving sticker to Chang Feng.
Chang Feng, Fatty Xu and others came to Shang Ming's outer house.
Shangfu, which was bustling with people a year ago, is now deserted. Only the warriors of Jin Yiwei were guarding the outside.
The glorious former Prime Minister Shang Ming sat on the steps outside the hall with disheveled hair.
Chang Feng came to Shang Ming and said, "Eunuch Shang. Take Bei Si's driving post and I will confiscate your property today."
Shang Ming raised his head: "If I told you that I don't have a single tael of my family property left in another house, would you believe it?"
Chang Feng was stunned: "It doesn't matter whether you believe it or not. You should know my expertise."
Shang Ming said: "Don't waste any time. Come on, follow me out of the city. I'll lead you to plunder my property."
Chang Feng is not afraid of what Shang Ming will do. He is now just an ordinary old eunuch in his sixties, a tiger without teeth. There was no way he could escape from Jin Yiwei's grasp.
Chang Feng said: "That's good. I'll prepare horses for Eunuch Shang."
After everyone left the city, Shang Ming led them to the foot of Xiangshan Mountain in Wanping County, northwest of Beijing.
At the foot of Xiangshan Mountain, there are hundreds of spacious tile-roofed houses. There is also a marble statue of Confucius standing in front of the tile-roofed house.
Chang Feng was puzzled: "Last summer, when I took my roommate to visit this place, we didn't see these houses."
Shang Ming made a silent gesture: "Listen."
The sound of children reading loudly came from those large tile-roofed houses.
"The heaven and earth are righteous, and they are mixed and endowed with manifolds. Below are the rivers and mountains, and above are the sun and stars..."
"Perhaps for the Liaodong hat, Qing Cao Li Bingxue. Or for the example of serving as a teacher, the ghosts and gods weep heroically..."
"The day of the philosopher is far away, but the punishment is still here. The wind canopy spreads the books to read, and the ancient road shines with color..."
Chang Feng said: "It's Wen Tianxiang's "Song of Righteousness". Eunuch Shang, do you hide your family wealth in these school buildings?"
Shang Ming explained: "Since Concubine Wan Gui died of illness in the first month of this year, I knew the situation was over. So I used all my family wealth to build a charity school and an orphanage."
"Such a large-scale volunteer school. I built three schools in Wanping and built four large schools."
"Throughout Zhili, all children who cannot afford to go to school can study in free schools. No tuition fees are charged, but food, clothing, housing, pens, ink, paper and inkstones are also provided."
"In addition, I have built six orphanages to accommodate widowers and provide them with care for the elderly."
Chang Feng said: "You donated all your wealth?"
Shang Ming nodded: "That's right. Chang Feng, don't you think this world is one of robbing the poor and giving to the rich?"
"The poor get poorer, and the rich get richer. I was born poor, otherwise I wouldn't have cut off a chicken's neck and entered the palace to become a middle-aged man."
"I know the suffering of the poor!"
"I have been in power for more than ten years. I am indeed greedy for power and have framed political opponents and loyal people."
"But I can pat my chest and say that I have never been greedy for a penny of national funds! National funds are the oil of the poor!"
"I kidnapped those rich families and asked them to cough up their money. It was just to rob the rich and give to the poor."
"In the study room of my residence, there is a general ledger. Over the past ten years, I have extorted a total of more than 80,000 taels of silver from more than 500 wealthy families in the capital through kidnapping and extortion."
"There are detailed expenditure accounts on it. More than 80,000 taels have been spent on supporting the elderly, relieving the poor, and building free schools."
Chang Feng saw no deception in Shang Ming's eyes, only sincerity.
For a moment, Chang Feng couldn't tell whether Shang Ming was a good person or a bad person.
Perhaps, it is difficult to distinguish between good and bad people.
Shang Ming said another sentence: "I just hope those children in the free school will study hard. When they grow up, they don't want to be like me."
Chang Feng asked: "What kind of people do you want them to be?"
A line of hot tears rolled down the corners of Shang Ming's eyes: "Be like Wen Tianxiang, Yue Fei, and Yu Qian."
Changfeng was speechless.
