What Gao Pingshi didn't expect was that he just rewarded twenty taels of silver yesterday, and not only did he "earn" it back the next day, he even made a lot of surplus.
This morning, Gao Gong had naturally gone to the cabinet to be on duty, but a group of palace people came to his home. The disciples thought that it was another saint who had given a reward to Gao Ge Lao. Shi Shiran stepped forward and asked, but to his surprise, the other party said that the saint indeed had something. The reward is just for Mr. Xiao Gao.
Naturally, Gao Gong cannot be Mr. Xiao Gao. The entire Gao Mansion in the capital may currently be called "Mr. Xiao Gao" by the palace, except for Gao Pragmatic. Although Menzi was very surprised, he did not dare to neglect and immediately sent someone to report Gao Pragmatic.
When Gao Jingshi learned that the emperor had rewarded him, he was a little surprised. He rolled his eyes and thought to himself: Even if the prince told the emperor about the "consultant" he had given him that day, the emperor shouldn't reward him so blatantly, right? Although Emperor Longqing is not highly educated, he has survived so many years and is not a political idiot. However, no matter what the emperor wanted, he couldn't delay this matter. He hurriedly ordered people to open the middle door and went out in person to welcome the angel in to receive the reward.
After leaving the mansion, Gao Jingshi discovered that the eunuch leading today was actually an acquaintance. It was Chen Ju who had been ordered to go to Henan to welcome Gao Gong back.
Although Chen Ju has been serving as the eunuch, he is still just a eunuch so far. He is separated from the "eunuch" known to ordinary people in later generations as a "young eunuch", and his status in the palace is not prominent. . Of course, under him as the eunuch, there are also Dianbo, Changsui, Fengyu and other levels. Therefore, although his status is not high in the eyes of the Gao family, he is actually a middle-to-high-level figure in the palace. If the character has the opportunity to be released outside, he can also become an ordinary earthly guard eunuch.
Chen Ju also said something when he came here today. Because if Emperor Longqing gave a reward to Gao Gong, the person who delivered the decree would definitely be at the eunuch level, and most likely he would be the eunuch Bingbi, the chief eunuch, or above. Although the chief eunuch Bingbi would not usually receive this errand, under the chief eunuch Bingbi The Bingbi eunuchs who are ranked next are likely to be named by the emperor to pass the decree.
And if the eunuchs who go there are not the eunuchs from the Si Li Jian and the Royal Horse Jian, but the ten eunuchs besides these two eunuchs, then I am afraid that the labor palm eunuch will have to make a trip in person. This is not only related to the importance of Gao Gong in the mind of Emperor Longqing, but also to the rank and status of the cabinet ministers. The reason why it was Chen Ju who made the trip to Xinzheng to pick up Gao Gong back to Beijing was because Gao Gong was at that time. After all, Gong has not officially recovered yet. Objectively speaking, he is just a commoner in white clothes, so it is not appropriate to let the eunuchs go on a long business trip.
But since today is just a reward for Gao Jingshi, there is no need to be so grand. Perhaps because Chen Ju did well when he went to Kaifeng Mansion to pick up Gao Gong last time, he still let him come this time to pass on the reward.
After the routine of passing on and receiving rewards was completed as usual, Gao Pingshi realized that the reason why the emperor rewarded him was not necessarily due to the role of his own staff, but that the emperor felt that he had a "very pleasant conversation" with the prince last time, and his words and deeds Outstanding, he is very inspiring to the prince, and I am very pleased. Looking back at the literary tradition of the Gao family, now that I have such a good son, I would like to reward him." - In fact, these words should probably be understood this way: after the prince met Gao Pragmatic He was in a good mood and mentioned it when the father and son met. The emperor was very happy after hearing this and waved his hand: reward!
So Gao pragmatically obtained two new imperial books, two boxes of imperial ink, two imperial inkstones, two imperial pens, and two imperial rice paper knives.
Although the value of this wave of rewards is not low, that is not the key. After all, these things cannot be sold. What is really important is that the rewards are consistent with the identities of both parties.
According to the customs of the past dynasties, the emperor's rewards to his subordinates are also based on the dish. For example, from a high and pragmatic background, if he directly rewards the emperor with money, it will not only be a failure, but also almost an insult. For a scholar like him from an official family, usually he can only appreciate elegant things such as books, pens, inks, paper and inkstones. If Gao Pragmatic is older, or has been named on the gold list, he can also reward some famous things such as Calligraphy, paintings, etc., but because he is very pragmatic and still young, if he does not reward calligraphy and paintings, it is intended to prevent him from becoming despondent with playthings.
Of course, generally speaking, the emperor himself may not be so specific about what to reward. After all, the eunuchs in the palace are all professionals when it comes to doing these things, and they are already familiar with it. Unless someone deliberately interferes with it, Otherwise, nothing would go wrong, so there is no need to go into details.
Gao Pragmatic has an impression of Chen Ju - not referring to the last time he took on Gao Gong.
When Gao Pragmatic was a student, he was relatively good at liberal arts and loved reading history books. He did not give up his hobby of reading even after joining the workforce. To put it more specifically, he had some knowledge of the history of the Ming Dynasty. The thing that Gao Pingshi remembers most clearly about Chen Ju is that he will become the eunuch in charge of the ceremony and supervise the East Factory in the future.
There is one point that needs special explanation here: in the Ming Dynasty, the two positions of the Chief of Ceremonies and the Admiral of the East Factory were rarely concentrated in the hands of the same person, because the Chief of Ceremonies approved cabinet votes on behalf of the emperor and was in charge of the cabinet. Confidential, it can be regarded as having administrative power; and the admiral Dongchang is equivalent to controlling the secret service organization, which can be regarded as having supervisory power independent of the Three Laws Division.
Then it is obvious that if these two powers are held by the same person, the emperor is likely to be isolated - if not isolated, at least it is likely to be "isolated from inside and outside." Therefore, under normal circumstances, the person who supervises the Dongchang is the eunuch Bingbi, the eunuch of Li, usually the first eunuch Bingbi. In history, Wei Zhongxian of the Tianqi Dynasty was "9,000 years old", and he was the chief Bingbi who also served as the Dongchang. Admiral.
In addition to the Secretary of Ceremony, there is another important place among the twelve prisons of the inner court, called the Royal Horse Prison. The position of royal eunuch is not comparable to that of Bima Wen in Journey to the West. The most important thing about this position is to share the military command with the Ministry of War and the governor. It is actually the "prince" of the inner court - that is, the "admiral's 12th regiment camp" [Note: The so-called 12th regiment camp has different names in different periods, Jiajing Twenty-nine years later, due to changes in the camp structure, it was often referred to as Jingying]. In addition, the Royal Horse Supervisor also managed the grassland and Huangzhuang, ran the Imperial Shop, and handled finances with the household department. He was the "internal steward" of the Ming Dynasty. The West Factory, which was set up twice in the Ming Dynasty, was also supervised by the Royal Horse Supervisor. This is against the Dongchang branch of the Supervisor of Ceremonies.
Of course, the setting up of the East Factory was the norm, while the setting up of the West Factory was a special case. Therefore, the eunuchs responsible for the rites and eunuchs were still in the "number one" position in the inner court, while the eunuchs responsible for the eunuchs and eunuchs of the imperial horse could only be second in command.
