"Eunuch Cai, Your Highness invites you."
As the chief eunuch of the Chief of Ceremonies and a close eunuch to His Majesty, Cai Huan, like Ji Sinian, has the power to create his own palace. However, due to his position, he is not often at His Majesty's side on weekdays, and is often away from the palace for food and accommodation. , it can be regarded as "His Majesty's special permission".
The person sent by the fifth prince to "invite people" was not his right-hand man Ji Jushan, but "crazy talent" Shi Luo. However, although Cai Huan is qualified to own his own palace, the eunuchs are still servants of the royal family. They usually support them, but in the final analysis, they are supported by the young eunuchs. The scholars call "Eunuch Cai" in front of everyone. You may not know why you cursed "castrated dog" in your heart! After all, scholars and eunuchs have been mortal enemies for two thousand years, and this has never changed. So Shi Luo's tone was not very polite.
Of course, some people may ask, why do you have to curse in your heart when you are behind others?
Because if you curse out loud and someone hears you, you will die.
Among the three major groups (scholars, relatives, and eunuchs) that can influence the decision-making of imperial power, eunuchs are the most special one.
Eunuchs are the most pitiful and cruel group in this country. Compared with ordinary people, they have lost the most important part of their bodies, and with that, they often lose the most important part of their humanity. Their status as slaves made them very humble, but the distance between them and the imperial power also brought many conveniences. They lost their attachment to beauty and were destined to have no wives or heirs, so their pursuit of power and money would probably be This is the pursuit of most eunuchs throughout their lives. And because of their unique conveniences, which allowed them to influence the harem, it was inevitable in all dynasties that the emperor listened to the government and the eunuchs hung behind the curtains. And the eunuchs were extremely vicious - those who offended the eunuchs rarely had a good end, so they Who dares to curse out loud?
Of course, there are good eunuchs with kind hearts and bad scholars who are full of evil, and we cannot kill them all at once. However, almost all troubles are caused by either the former or the latter.
It can be seen from this that it is not an exaggeration to say that the two thousand years of struggle between scholars and eunuchs is the history of mankind.
Why is a relative left behind here? Because in ancient times, foreign relatives often relied on one of them to seize power. Most of them stood with the scholar family, and occasionally exchanged interests with the eunuchs. However, the scholars gradually discovered that these people relied on their own family to create beautiful women. The guy whose mother was able to ascend to heaven with chickens and dogs really didn’t have enough brains, so he gradually became separated from his relatives. Later, such relatives gradually became rare due to the changes in the concubine selection system, and most queens were appointed from women in aristocratic families, so the status of foreign relatives gradually merged with the scholars.
"Your Highness? Which Your Highness?" Cai Huan is in good spirits. He is still rosy even after he is over fifty, and there is not a single silver strand in his black hair. His voice is unusually sharp. From this point of view, he seems to be in harmony with the situation. All eunuchs are the same.
Shi Luo added: "The fifth prince, His Royal Highness King Zhao."
All orders? What did he come to me for? Cai Huan rolled his eyes, feeling incredible. He didn't have much friendship with Qi Dan, not even acquaintance. In the past, when he was not in charge of the seal, he was responsible for serving the crown prince in the East Palace. Although the crown prince and King Zhao lived together in such a large city of five senses, one was in the east and the other in the west and they did not have much time to see each other. Later, Ji Sinian was old because of his old age. After moving from Zhangyin to Bingbi eunuch, this job fell on Cai Huan, but Qi Dan had also left the palace, so there was no chance to contact him.
"Pay attention to your attitude." Of course Cai Huan had to show off. After all, there were not many people who were qualified to be rude to him. He Shi Luo, a little-known pawn, dared to talk to him like this. How could he really treat him like that? Is your son cut off in vain? "His Highness comes to our house, and you are just the messenger. Let's not say anything... Even the Minister of the Sixth Division has to use the honorific title when he meets our house. What makes you special?"
Shi Luo lived up to his reputation as a mad genius. He did not give any explanation for this. Instead, he asked: "Eunuch Cai, how about we go out first? The adults waiting outside are very anxious."
"Huh." Cai Huan could see that the young man in front of him was a domineering master, so he didn't bother to pester him anymore and walked out on his own.
Why did Qi Dan let this person do this? This was the purpose - Ji Jushan's personality was really not suitable for bullying others. If he was politely led out by Cai Huan, it would also have an impact on the following links.
As soon as he walked out of the door, Cai Huan's expression changed.
Waiting for him in front of his house was the Northern Army Colonel Xia Ze, the second-ranking figure in the Imperial Guards in the capital, second only to the Northern Army Lieutenant, Zhi Jinwu.
Now that we have said this, we might as well talk about some interesting things - the founding emperor of the Sheng Kingdom showed his orthodoxy and found a reason that seemed a bit funny - he was a serious descendant of the Han Dynasty royal family. Although two thousand years have passed and the genealogy cannot be found, this is what people say.
Someone once questioned, to the effect of "Is your surname wrong? The emperor of the Han Dynasty was named Liu, isn't your surname Qi?"
Others also have reasons: "Qi means Wen Dao, and Liu also means Wen Dao. In order to avoid disaster, Liu Zuoqi has to do it."
To say it is far-fetched is indeed far-fetched, but it is not impossible.
Therefore, in addition to continuing the three provinces and six ministries of the previous dynasty, the official positions of the Shengguo court also included many systems that were established or retained during the Han Dynasty and later abolished, such as the three-gong titles that are now used as virtual titles, various retro general titles, Another example is the similar but unique system of prefectures and counties that does not grant land to princes and kings, and the strange tradition of using relatives as chariot and cavalry generals.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the imperial guard in the capital was divided into two armies, the north and the south, just like in the Han Dynasty. The southern army was the imperial army in the palace, and the northern army was the imperial army in the city. The two complemented each other externally and internally, and were collectively referred to as the "Wuqian Army". The Wuqian Army echoes the "Tianbian Guards" who are the inspectors and personal guards around the emperor. They must investigate the horizon and kill in front of them. This is exactly the case.
In terms of personal force, perhaps the soldiers in the army may not be as good as the masters in the arena, but in terms of collective combat effectiveness and strict discipline, the Wuqian Army is even better than the Sirius Army. After all, They are responsible for the safety of the capital.
The Northern Army is responsible for patrolling and suppressing riots in the capital. Although the Northern Military Colonel Xia Ze has a low official position and may not have great power, his arrival is obviously a sign of something about to happen or something has already happened.
Therefore, Xia Ze's name matches the forbidden army he is in charge of.
Forbidden - to control, to win, to refrain, to be cautious, to stop.
Xia Ze is a very principled person, which is why Cai Huan became wary after seeing him.
"Eunuch Cai, please come and follow us." Xia Ze's voice was steady and strong, without any emotion.
"Leave? Where do you want our family to follow you?" Looking at the expressionless Xia Ze, Cai Huan felt a little panicked.
Xia Ze glanced at Cai Huan coldly: "We found something in the car sent to your house, so we would like to ask you to go over and verify it."
"You said that if you let our family go with you, we have to go with you, right?" Cai Huan was already angry, and now he was even more angry, "Your Majesty still has many important matters that need to be dealt with by our family. How can our family have time?" Are you messing around with you? It’s not too late for us to go ask His Majesty for instructions.”
"You'd better not meet His Majesty now." Xia Ze said suddenly, and then waved his hand to order the Northern Army guards to clamp Cai Huan in the center.
…………
When he arrived at the Beijun garrison, Cai Huan found that Qi Dan was waiting for him, and only Qi Dan and Xia Ze were left in the large Beijun meeting house. This situation made Cai Huan feel even more terrifying. ——When he lynched others, he usually did not allow people to watch.
"Hey, Eunuch Cai has arrived." Qi Dan said with a smile, his voice was high and loud, and it seemed that he was almost recovering from his illness.
"His Royal Highness King Zhao... I just heard that there was something wrong with the things given to our family. I don't know..." I don't know whether Cai Huan was scared or confused. In short, he was cowering a little now.
This is not difficult to understand - when Cai Huan is favored, he is also favored by Qi Changgeng. He is just a knife in Qi Changgeng's hand. He has to chop whoever Qi Changgeng asks him to chop, and if he wants to chop himself Of course, everyone has to look at His Majesty's face.
Naturally, Cai Huan used methods to persecute many ministers who had issues with him, but it was either His Majesty's signal or His Majesty's acquiescence. After all, they were all outsiders. But no matter how much Qi Dan messed around, no matter how Qi Changgeng disliked Qi Dan, he was still his biological son.
If the common people are guilty, there are officials to rule them; if the officials are guilty, there are laws to rule them; only the emperor's relatives - although the law can rule them, the "person" who can rule them can only be the emperor himself.
Because disrespecting the prince is a slap in the emperor's face.
Cai Huan has lived for most of his life and has been favored by the king. Of course, he is transparent.
"Yes, there is a problem, and it is a big problem." Qi Dan showed the object in his hand to the frightened Eunuch Cai: "You and your god-grandson are very courageous!"
Before he finished speaking, Qi Shan's expression was trembling. He couldn't tell whether he was majestic or cruel, but just looking at him made people want to kneel down.
Sure enough, Cai Huan fell to the ground with a thud. Although he didn't know what happened specifically, looking at what His Highness had in his hand seemed to be a letter, it seemed that one of his godsons had said it in the letter. Some things that should not have been said happened to be seen by others.
"Young one... I really don't know!"
"I don't know?" Qi Dan sneered, "Then I'll let you know!"
After saying that, Qi Dan smashed the letters in his hand into a ball in front of Cai Huan.
Just as Cai Huan was tremblingly opening the letter to read, Qi Dan added at the side: "Today I had an appointment with an old friend, and something like this happened. I don't know if it's good luck or bad luck..."
The old friend mentioned by the fifth prince was Xia Ze. Not only were the two childhood playmates, but they also had quite a friendship in the military. However, whether he encountered this incident "accidentally" or whether he had planned it for a long time is debatable.
Because of He Nan's letter, Qi Dan had been watching the movements around Cai Huan for several days. When he heard that someone wanted to give Cai Huan a gift, he naturally came to find Xia Ze, and "just in time" he saw the convoy of gifts.
The letter in Cai Huan's hand was written by Cai Meng himself. In the letter, he flattered his godfather and expressed his utmost filial piety and consideration. However, Cai Huan read the letter three times and still didn't know what the problem was. Which - the only thing that was superfluous was to ask Cai Huan if any young officials from the capital were appointed to Fuyang.
"Your Highness...this is just a New Year's greeting for our adopted son..." Cai Huan stammered.
"Then take a look at this one again." Qi Dan took out another letter and almost wanted to slap Cai Huan on the face.
I am willing to follow the example of Wei Zu, like a grass-headed king.
These ten big characters are exactly the same as Cai Meng's handwriting.
Cai Huan didn't understand what this meant, so he was extremely frightened and shocked, and his head was bruised and bloody.
"Although I do not have the duty of supervising hundreds of officials, after all, Shengguo belongs to my Qi family, so checking your car is not an overstep, right?" Of course, Qi Dan also read the two letters tucked in the car. Only then did he realize what He Nan was up to.
He Nan had a grudge against Cai Meng and wanted to use his own hands to get rid of Cai Meng. After Qi Dan read the letter, he understood - He Nan was playing a trick to drive the tiger away and devour the wolf!
It was not that Qi Dan had not considered Cai's rebellion, but his doubts had been dispelled after seeing the two letters in Cai Meng's congratulatory gift. Since He Nan had made good friends with the officials of Fuyang County, if Cai Meng rebelled If it was true, why would he need to lend his own hand? Wouldn't it be better to report it directly to the local government and have your home searched? Besides, if Cai Huan wanted to rebel, the poem in the second letter would not hold true - after all, whether this letter was written by Cai Meng or He Nan, it was still "Cai Meng" "Proposal" rather than agreeing with Cai Huan's idea, so Cai Huan was unaware.
It can be seen that He Nan faked Cai Meng's name to frame Cai Huan, and his plan for himself was to use this to hijack the innocent Cai Huan for his own use.
My abacus calculation is pretty good, but using me to destroy a small county tycoon like Cai Meng is a bit too disrespectful, isn't it?
Will my complete order... make you He Nan so satisfied?
