"Godfather!"
"Godfather!"
"Ancestor!"
"..."
Wang Chengen walked with long strides. No matter how long his strides were, he would never talk nonsense. Along the way, listening to all kinds of respectful greetings, I couldn't help but feel filled with emotion.
In less than a day, he turned out to be the eunuch in charge of the ceremony and the admiral of the East Factory, becoming the first person in the palace of the Ming Dynasty. This opportunity was really like a dream!
It was a tradition in the palace for eunuchs to adopt sons. It is to select the low-level eunuchs who have good performance and are worthy of training and adopt them as godsons, so that in the future, they can rely on the promoted godsons to support themselves in old age. However, now Wang Chengen knows that he does not need to rely on these godsons to support himself in his old age.
Thinking of this, he really wanted to call Zhang Mingwei his godfather. It was precisely because of Zhang Mingwei's arrival that he gained trust that others could not gain from the current and future emperors of the Ming Dynasty. As long as you don't do anything to disgrace the emperor, your life will be absolutely worry-free.
Thinking of this, Wang Chengen immediately asked: "How is he?"
His men naturally knew who he was asking. One of them, a eunuch named Wang Erbiao, quickly replied: "My godfather, I am guarding him in the inner cell. He is just staged. My son will get angry when he sees him!"
After Wang Chengen heard this, he couldn't help but sneer in his heart. He really thought he was still the eunuch in charge of the ceremony! Or maybe, when the emperor's anger subsides, he will be used again?
Under normal circumstances, after the emperor's anger has passed, he will usually be nostalgic. Even if he is no longer an official and is reinstated, he will not be much worse off. In other words, the so-called banging will continue to use it.
With this thought in mind, Wang Chengen arrived at the inner cell in just a moment.
The place is heavily guarded and guarded by his cronies.
Wang Dehua sat cross-legged on the bed, like an old monk in meditation, without saying a word or moving. He just looked at Wang Chengen who entered the cell without any intention to please him.
When Wang Chengen saw him, he stared at him coldly and had no intention of speaking immediately. In this way, the two looked at each other for a long time.
In the end, Wang Dehua spoke first, with a calm look on his face, not crying in front of Emperor Chongzhen at all. He just asked with confusion: "Who is that person?"
Wang Chengen knew who he was asking as soon as he heard it, but he had no need to answer Wang Dehua, and he didn't want to answer him, so he shouted coldly: "We advise you to focus on confessing, so as not to use violence. .”
Upon hearing this, Wang Dehua waved his hand to flick away the dust that might be on his body, and then sneered: "I dare to confess, do you dare to submit it to the emperor?"
When he said this, he looked as if he was sure that Wang Chengen would not dare to submit it to the emperor.
Before Wang Chengen could answer, he said in a better tone: "Let's do this. I will hand over 50,000 taels of silver and give you another 50,000 taels. Your Majesty, please say a few good words for me. This favor , I just wrote it down.”
At this point, he raised his voice a little and advised earnestly: "Those of us who are slaves in the palace may have such an unlucky experience as me one day. We must keep a silver lining in everything so that we can have a happy ending in the future." . Wei Zhongxian is an example, and Eunuch Cao is another example. Right?"
Wei Zhongxian was extremely trusted by Emperor Tianqi, but he was ruthless in his actions and even killed his godfather. His final fate was that he himself would die a tragic death after Emperor Tianqi died.
Cao Huachun also had the trust of Emperor Chongzhen, but for so many years, his relationship with the palace and the officials of the outer court had always been a matter of good to you and me, and we were all in harmony, so he was able to retire and return the favor. I went to my hometown for retirement.
Wang Dehua is an old man, and Wang Chengen is a newcomer who has just emerged. He used these two examples to remind Wang Chengen not to go too far!
Not to mention, if it were a normal situation, Wang Chengen might really be persuaded by him. However, at this time, Wang Chengen just sneered and said, "Have you said enough?"
Wang Dehua was stunned by these words: What do you mean? Isn’t this Wang Chengen a very smart person? Can’t he understand his own words?
Thinking of this, he stared into Wang Chengen's eyes and asked slowly: "Do you really want to imitate Wei Zhongxian?"
"Haha, you still want to blame our family?" Wang Chengen couldn't help but sneered after hearing this, "No one in our family wants to imitate, we just do our best to serve the Lord Long Live and share the worries of the Lord!"
Hearing this, Wang Dehua's face clearly showed a hint of sarcasm, but it immediately disappeared. He just stared at Wang Chengen's eyes for a while, and then said slowly: "I'll give you 80,000 taels, no more." !”
Obviously, he felt that Wang Chengen was greedy and felt that the money was not enough, so he said this.
Not to mention, Wang Chengen's godson and the like all showed happy expressions when they heard this. Because they knew that if Wang Chengen knocked out more money from Wang Dehua, more would be distributed to them.
But when Wang Chengen heard this, he saw a sarcastic expression on his face: "Do you think this is a matter of money? Didn't you hear clearly what we just said?"
When Wang Dehua heard this, he was really surprised. He looked at Wang Chengen up and down again as if he couldn't believe it, and then said: "You think I am really a mountain of gold and silver, and you want more? Or, you are Are you determined to learn from Wei Zhongxian?"
Wang Chengen's godsons were a little confused after hearing this, so they all listened to their conversation attentively. Because generally speaking, getting 80,000 taels of cash from one transaction is already a lot.
"Since you are deaf, we will tell you one more time, listen up!" After hearing this, Wang Chengen immediately said righteously, "We slaves are dedicated to sharing the worries of Lord Long Live and do our best to run errands for Lord Long Live. This is my duty. As for Wei Ni, is he?"
Hearing his words, Wang Dehua couldn't help but sneered, "Let you pretend!" So, he immediately replied: "Okay, since you are determined, then I want to see if you can really do it? Let's see if you have the courage to submit it to the emperor!"
"You don't have to worry about it now!" Wang Chengen said this, cupped his fist in the direction of the emperor, and said righteously, "Our family's loyalty to Long Live Lord can be learned from heaven and earth!"
When his godsons heard this, they felt that he was really not just talking. For a moment, they couldn't help but look at each other. Did their godfather really not want any money?
"Hehe, hehehe..." Wang Dehua couldn't help but sneered after hearing this.
But soon, he stopped laughing and said with a bit of a sinister tone: "There is a secret compartment an inch to the left of the bedside where we live. There is an account book in it, which records the filial piety received this year. . Prince, are you sure you want to submit it to the imperial government? You have always heard of the saying that the law does not punish the public, right? "
There must be such account books. After all, it’s not just one or two transactions, but many.
Wang Dehua must be aware of who sent something, how valuable it was, what he was asked to do, and whether it was accomplished, or who sent it more often and gave good things.
In fact, even Wang Chengen himself has similar account books. It's just that he is just a eunuch with a pen. Among the many eunuchs in the palace, he is not the most powerful. Therefore, the money and goods he receives cannot be compared with the powerful eunuchs such as Wang Dehua.
At this time, Wang Chengen accompanied Wang Dehua to talk so much nonsense. Firstly, he wanted to show his loyalty to the emperor and make his subordinates sober up. Secondly, it was to let Wang Dehua speak out on his own, otherwise it would cause trouble and it might be delayed for a long time. , it won’t be pretty when done.
At this time, Wang Chengen heard what he said and ignored him at all. He just turned around and ordered his cronies Wang Erbiao: "Go and get it!"
"Son, I obey!" Upon hearing this, Wang Erbiao immediately agreed and hurried out.
Turning back, Wang Chengen looked at Wang Dehua and asked again in a cold voice: "What else?"
"No rush!" After hearing this, Wang Dehua replied calmly, "You should read the account books first and then talk! Some things are not as simple as you think!"
Judging from what he meant, he seemed to have enough confidence that Wang Chengen would give in after reading the account books he had collected from Xiaojing this year. Even in his words, there was a hint of an old man preaching to his younger generation.
After Wang Chengen heard this, he sneered and said: "You old guy, you really know how to rely on your old age to show off your old age. You underestimate our family too much!"
Wang Dehua was stunned by his words. As if he couldn't believe it, he looked Wang Chengen up and down and said: "Eunuch, don't think that it will be fine if you get the emperor's forgiveness for collecting money! I advise you to accept it as soon as you can. Otherwise, although you are now You are favored by the emperor, but once you become a public enemy of the Ming Dynasty, can you stop three people from becoming tigers?"