Liu Jin put on the big red robe. As long as the emperor was not around, he was the number one person in the palace. He held his head high wherever he went. Gu Dayong, Ma Yongcheng, Qiu Ju, Luo Xiang, and Gao Feng who followed him back then are now even more proud of themselves. He is the leader.
"Your Majesty, please rest." Liu Jin took off his hat. Needless to say, a young eunuch took it away for him, and someone else brought a basin of water over for him to cleanse his face and hands.
Liu Jin raised his head and glanced at the tender-skinned young eunuch, "Are these basins and towels new?"
"It's new," the young eunuch said with a smile, "Mr. Liu uses it every day, and the boys have all replaced it with brand new ones."
"Yes." Liu Jin made a muffled sound in his nose, "He is a sensible person. We see that there are many people in the courtyard. They are in a mess. Do they have heads?"
"If I get back to Eunuch Liu, they are all direct palace supervisors who are responsible for cleaning."
"what's your name?"
"In response to Eunuch Liu, my name is Liu Min."
"Oh, you changed your last name temporarily?"
Snap it,
The young man named Liu Min knelt down and begged for mercy in tears, "I dare not deceive Eunuch Liu. My surname is indeed Liu. My surname has been Liu since I was a child. I don't have the guts to dare to compare with Eunuch Liu."
"Get up, our family didn't say what we're going to do to you. My surname is Liu, how about you become my godson? If you agree, go outside and tell those people that you will be their leader from now on. .”
Liu Min was immediately overjoyed, "My godfather, my son will kowtow to you now!"
Liu Jin was very satisfied and laughed loudly, "Okay, okay, okay. Let's go to work."
Such an operation is truly the pinnacle of life.
Gu Dayong, Ma Yongcheng, Qiu Ju, Luo Xiang, and Gao Feng were all drooling at the sight, and they became even more flattering to Liu Jin's gesture.
Liu Jin wiped his hands and turned to look at the five of them and smiled, "Sit down, let's have a few bites together. I've been serving Your Majesty all night and I haven't even had a sip of tea."
When he said this, all five people poured tea for him.
"No, what's the relationship between us brothers?" Liu Jin patted Gu Dayong's shoulder and motioned to the five of them, "Sit down."
"Eunuch Liu." Gu Dayong squinted his eyes and smiled in a friendly manner, "From now on, you will be the Supervisor of Ceremonies...?"
Liu Jin did not answer directly, but said: "Xiao Jing has been sent by the emperor to guard the late emperor's mausoleum. At that time, Wang Yue, Chen Rong and others here all went to Nanjing, and each had their own destination. The emperor also explained that the late emperor was a generous and kind man. A virtuous monarch does not employ extremely evil people, so we cannot take revenge for personal gain."
As long as they leave the Forbidden City, Liu Jin can tolerate them.
The change of eunuchs was even more intense than that of civil servants. As soon as the emperor changed, the eunuchs who had been favored by the Hongzhi Dynasty in the past knew that their time had come.
Xiao Jing, Chen Rong, and Wang Yue from the Supervisor of Ceremonies, Li Rong, and Chang Qing from the Internal Affairs Supervisor... Li Rong also had some relationship with Li Guang. When Emperor Hongzhi killed Li Guang in an emotional moment, he actually regretted it. Li Rong just stayed.
But he does not have such a relationship with Zhu Houzhao, and the relationship between these people and Zhu Houzhao is not as good as that of the old people in Qiandi in the East Palace, so a big change is certain.
In the East Palace, Zhang Yong, Gu Dayong, Ma Yongcheng, Qiu Ju, Luo Xiang, etc. are all old people who have a lot of contact with him on weekdays and have been trained for several years. Why don't they use their own people? ….
Furthermore, this group of people actually wanted to pursue a future by following him. When you are a leader, if you are too impartial and do not protect your shortcomings at all, no one will be determined to work for you.
In particular, important departments such as the Si Li Jian, Yu Ma Jian (in charge of military talismans), Nei Guan Jian (in charge of camp construction), and Yu Yong Jian (in charge of the manufacturing office) must be replaced by their own people, telling them to go east and never dare to go west. , this is the beauty of our own people, that is, the Zhidian Supervisor (in charge of environmental protection) and the Shangyi Supervisor can also keep an elderly person.
In real history, Liu Jin would take his seven little brothers and cry in front of Emperor Zhengde, which aroused the emperor's sympathy and then divided these positions.
But in this space, they don't dare to serve this righteous person.
Liu Jin, Chief of Ceremonies of the Department of Printing and Printing
, Gu Dayong and Ma Yongcheng are the eunuchs of the ceremonial department, Bingbi the eunuch, Qiu Ju is the official eunuch, Luo Xiang is the eunuch, Gao Feng is the food eunuch, and Zhang Yong is the eunuch of the horse, all of which require the emperor's eight classics. Only after nodding their heads did they dare to take action.
Among them, the responsibilities of the Chief of Ceremonies are the most important, but politics is like running water, it is not static. The ceremonial supervisors of the past dynasties held the power of approving reds in the hands of the eunuchs, but Liu Jin actually did not have it.
Because Zhu Houzhao would read the important memorials drafted by the cabinet himself. He could not accept such critical steps as Zhu's imperial approval and sealing to be managed by eunuchs. This is actually equivalent to the eunuch becoming the emperor.
Of course, there is still Liu Jin who is in charge of all eunuch affairs as the Supervisor of Ceremonies. The Supervisor of Ceremonies is the "first department". In fact, all other supervisors, departments and bureaus are under the supervision of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, so Liu Jin is still the de facto first. Eunuchs, the specific daily work they are responsible for is done by each eunuch.
It's a bit like a structure in which one mayor is in charge of overall work and several deputy mayors are in charge of specific work.
The most important of these is that the eunuchs of the Bureau of Ceremony, Bingbi, are in charge of secret service agencies such as Dongchang and Zhaoyu (Jinyiwei). Except for the particularly powerful Jinyiwei leader during the Jiajing period, all other Jinyiwei commanders must be given to the father-in-law in the palace. kowtow.
The logic here is that the closer you are to the emperor, the greater your power.
"Zhang Yong went to the northwest to supervise the army, Wei Bin..." Liu Jin shook his head, "I won't mention him anymore. There were eight of us brothers back then, but now there are only seven left. Fortunately, the sun has finally risen. How about you? Everyone has a place to go."
"The emperor has agreed?" Gu Dayong was excited.
Liu Jin clicked his tongue, then pretended to be a sheep and said strangely: "The emperor doesn't speak, how dare I say this, brother? Don't worry, today we have chosen the emperor to make arrangements for all of us when he is happy!" "
When things finally settled, these people clenched their fists and banged the table.
Ma Yongcheng also said: "The emperor usually treats us harshly, but I thought he wouldn't... It seems that the emperor still cares about our friendship!"
Liu Jin chewed a piece of pork and smiled, "The Emperor and our family still know each other. He must miss the old relationship, but you should think about Wei Bin again."
Wei Bin's incident was a haze in their hearts.
"Whether it is a eunuch with a palm print or a eunuch with a pen, these hats are not easy to wear. Lao Ma just said that he thought His Majesty would not arrange it. This is the first mistake. Why not? There are many people in the palace talking. Yes, of course His Majesty has to rely on us old people. But then again, His Majesty has lost sight of friendship, and if we slaves cannot afford this friendship, that will be the fate of Wei Bin. "….
After he said this, these five people no longer thought about eating.
Liu Jin was very observant. When he saw this, he interrupted with a smile, "Okay, it's not that scary. Haven't our family been serving His Majesty for so many years? In fact, it only comes down to one sentence."
"What words?"
"This is what those foreign ministers taught me." Liu Jin moved his head forward, "Your Majesty does not want people who look up from the mountains to the mountains. This is especially true for us. Foreign ministers can still go home if they don't become officials, but we For these rootless people, the palace is their home. If they can’t stay in the palace, they won’t be able to survive. So always remember in our hearts that there is only one sun above our heads.”
"That's natural. We all grew up with His Majesty. We can't do anything like cheating."
"Yes, I must serve His Majesty well."
"I met a censor yesterday. Hey, he doesn't look down on us. It wouldn't be possible without His Majesty's protection."
"Back then, Wei Bin...if he hadn't poached Dong Gong himself, there would have been a chance to save him."
Several people were talking at random. They all should know who they should rely on.
The eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty were like this. No matter how violent they were outside, the emperor would always be their god. Wei Zhongxian was so powerful during the Tianqi period. When Emperor Tianqi accidentally fell into the lake, he was the first to jump in to save people, because the eunuchs We all know that some civil servants want to cut them into pieces, and they all rely on this emperor.
And it can only be a certain emperor. If it were another emperor, you wouldn’t get along with them.
We have been together for a long time, how can we have that kind of affection and trust?
Liu Jin brought a cup of tea, swayed it between his nose and sniffed it, "The past is past, we have to look forward. We are the ones who have the final say in the future of the palace. According to His Majesty's temperament, it is us who are responsible for good things happening in the palace. Yes, we can't run away if something bad happens, so the rules in the palace must be clearly explained to them. If anyone treats your majesty with bad intentions, or picks up the palace bowl to eat, or scolds his mother when he puts the bowl down, your majesty will be killed first. Got him."
The words were a bit cold at the end.
Gu Dayong ignored the others and agreed, "Eunuch Liu is right. Anyway, Gu Dayong only has one sun. Whoever causes trouble will bear it on his own!"
Liu Jin stretched and said, "It's time to sleep. Dayong, your Majesty still needs someone with you. Although your Majesty is sleeping well, what if you wake up at night and give orders?"
Gu Dayong was happy to take this job, which showed that Liu Jin really trusted him, and he himself had more opportunities to contact the emperor.
In fact, Zhu Houzhao has not been sleeping well these days. He is a little worried about things in the northwest. If Wang Shouren leads the army, he will not be worried at all, but he doesn't know if he has realized anything.
In the second half of the night, the emperor really started calling people. After all, he was young and very energetic even if he couldn't sleep. He couldn't lie down in bed.
Gu Dayong stayed overnight and woke up instantly. Then he called for people to bring in the heating brazier, hot water, and dragon robes.
Zhu Houzhao sat on the dragon bed with his hair disheveled, "Is it your place tonight?"
Gu Da has a fleshy face and an ugly smile, but he still insists on smiling. He has only one pair of hands that are clever, and he never makes mistakes when working. "Please forgive me, Mr. Liu said that your Majesty has the spirit of a dragon and a tiger, and every sleep They were all here until dawn, so I went to rest first so that I could have the energy to serve His Majesty during the day. I changed slaves to come over at night. Anyway, slaves always have to think about how to serve His Majesty.”….
"After all, it's because the people around him are considerate." Zhu Houzhao had a good impression of Gu Dayong. He was just a bit addicted to officialdom. He liked to show off and pretend to be an official, but he did things carefully. He was always there when he was in the East Palace. Waiting on the side, "I have already told Liu Jin that you must take charge of the supervisors, departments, and bureaus in the palace for me. If your family has a big business, you can't let me worry about it all by myself."
"Yes, Your Majesty is pretending to be all about Jiuzhou Wanfang. The eunuchs, maids, and slaves in the palace are taking good care of Your Majesty."
"There must be palace rules in the palace. The details of all the errands must be found out. Da Yong, from tomorrow onwards you will find out the situation. How many eunuchs and maids there are. If you can reduce the number, then reduce the number, especially Those older palace maids, don’t worry about the outside world at all, they still have family members, it would be great if you could let them out of the palace."
Gu Dayong was helping him put on his shoes. At this time, he took two steps back and knelt down. "Your Majesty is really a kind-hearted Bodhisattva. When he was in the East Palace, it was said in the palace that as long as someone is honest and sincere in his errands, in fact, His Majesty It is the best for them. I will thank His Majesty for your kindness first!"
"Get up. Just remember my preferences, just like you. As long as you obey the rules honestly and tell me the truth in every word, I will definitely protect you."
"I understand. I will never lie to Your Majesty in this life."
"Okay. By the way, Liu Jin should have told you too. You will be working as an errand in the ceremonial department from now on."
Gu Da nodded naively, "No matter where I work as a servant, my duty is to serve the emperor well."
The emperor Zhuangruo said unintentionally, "Then what did Liu Jin tell you? Did he make any requests?"
"Eunuch Liu said that all of us can only have one sun, and that is Your Majesty."
"Is that what he said?" Zhu Houzhao chuckled softly, "I like your honest spirit. I like it. If you hear or see anything in the palace, you should tell me in time. You all know me, I I’m not someone who is easy to fool, but there are always some people who don’t believe in this evil. You, Gu Dayong, have to open your eyes and see clearly for me.”
Gu Dayong muttered in his heart, these words are not simple. In fact, he had some doubts just after asking about Liu Jin's situation, "Okay, I will listen to your majesty."
"Is there something you want to ask?" Zhu Houzhao looked at him with a different expression.
Gu Dayong raised his head and scratched his cheek, "Then Eunuch Liu...do you want me to tell His Majesty too?"
The emperor slightly curved the corners of his mouth and said five words slowly, "It's up to you."
What do you think?
Gu Dayong couldn't understand even more. What did this mean?
96.
royal hired cat
