Emperor Chongzhen interrupted him nonchalantly and said, "Learn if you don't know it. No one is born with it!"
Having said this, he paused, and seeing that the four young eunuchs still looked frightened, he said again: "Remember, the principle of handling must be beneficial to me and the people..."
At this time, Wang Chengen had just returned. Hearing these words of Emperor Chongzhen, he was immediately shocked and speechless: What does the emperor mean by this? Could it be that he wants to train them to become the eunuchs who are responsible for the rituals and eunuchs Bingbi? But...but these few have just left the inner study hall and are only fifteen or sixteen-year-old eunuchs. What do they know?
Generally speaking, after graduating from the inner study hall, you have to train as a low-level eunuch in the twelve palace palaces. After a few years of good performance, you will be promoted one level at a time, and finally become a young eunuch or a eunuch. .
Emperor Chongzhen had actually seen Wang Chengen's return, and ignored him, continuing: "...I am the Ming Dynasty, and my interests are the interests of the Ming Dynasty and the interests of the people. Keep this in mind when you go to see the cabinet votes. Let’s see if the meaning given by the assistant minister is consistent with what I just said. If you feel it is inappropriate, write down your thoughts and attach it to the cabinet draft office. Do you understand?”
After what he said, Lan Tianbao and others got some clues. And after the initial shock, with time buffering, the shock also eased a little. At this time, ecstasy surged in their hearts again.
They are not fools. They naturally know that the emperor is obviously training them. If they can pass the emperor's test, they may be able to reach the sky in one step. Such a great good thing appears before our eyes. It would be strange not to be ecstatic and excited! Naturally, they were extremely grateful to the emperor!
So, the four of them took the order one after another, carefully divided the memorial on the imperial case into four parts, and started working on it under the eyes of the emperor.
Emperor Chongzhen stood up from his throne and watched the four of them working there.
To be honest, these four little eunuchs actually have no experience at all in handling government affairs. Emperor Chongzhen had no expectations at all for the outcome of their vote. The reason for doing this can be said to be to train them and give them a signal that they will be reused in the future, making it impossible for them to be bribed by anyone. After all, could the benefits given by others be greater than the emperor's expectations for them? In addition, doing this at this time is also for Wang Chengen to see.
Emperor Chongzhen watched Lan Tianbao and the others carefully read the memorial for a while, then walked slowly in the palace, and at the same time said to Wang Chengen who was following him: "Do you think what I just said to them makes sense?"
Wang Chengen was shocked in his heart, feeling that the emperor wanted to make a big change in the palace. Why is this happening all of a sudden?
For a moment, he was a little confused. You know, no matter how smart these four eunuchs are, it is unlikely that they will be qualified for the job of eunuch Bingbi, the eunuch who is responsible for the rituals, due to age and seniority restrictions.
Unable to understand, Wang Chengen had no choice but to flatter him and said: "What your Majesty said is the truth! I think you are right!"
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he suddenly stood up, turned around and looked at Wang Chengen and said: "I think all the old people in the palace should understand this principle, right?"
When Wang Chengen heard this, he felt something was wrong in his heart: Could it be that the emperor specially ordered him to serve today because he had something to say to himself?
Originally, he was not on duty today, but with Emperor Chongzhen's order, the eunuch on duty became him.
Emperor Chongzhen was waiting for his reply, and Wang Chengen did not dare to delay. Moreover, there was no other answer to the emperor's words, so he had no choice but to answer according to his meaning: "I think so!"
But Emperor Chongzhen seemed to be chatting unconventionally and did not continue the topic. He changed the subject and asked Wang Chengen: "Tell me, how do I treat the old people around me?"
The old people he was talking about were naturally the people who had been serving him before he became emperor. For example, Wang Chengen's godfather, Cao Huachun.
To be honest, the original Emperor Chongzhen really had nothing to say to these eunuchs from the vassal period. Not only did he hold important positions in the palace, but even when he had conflicts with the chief minister, he trusted the people around him more, which was why Wen Tiren resigned sadly.
Don't say that this is the case. Even if it is not the case, it is impossible for Wang Chengen to answer the emperor's question and say that he is not good to the old people in the palace.
Therefore, after receiving his affirmative answer, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly sighed and said: "But, I am good to them, so why do they come to fool and bully me?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Chengen was startled and quickly fell to the ground, not daring to respond. Even Lan Tianbao and others who were watching the draft of the memorial were so frightened that they knelt aside.
After all, Emperor Chongzhen’s words were too serious. If they were true, it would be the crime of deceiving the emperor! Although a lot of people are doing things to deceive the emperor, they are not exposed, at least they are not revealed.
Seeing their reactions, Emperor Chongzhen just waved his hand to Lan Tianbao and others, indicating that they should continue. Then he looked at Wang Chengen who was lying on the ground and said: "Tang Taizong has a good saying, water can carry a boat and it can also overturn it. ! I believe that the old people in the palace understand this truth, and the old people around me understand it. What I just said to the four of them, the old people in the palace must also understand. But, how did they do it? "
"I didn't know it before, but yesterday I asked them to write down everything they knew anonymously, and then I realized that there were so many things happening in places that I couldn't see, and it was these old people who were taking the lead. Could they? I don’t know, is that digging the roots of the Ming Dynasty and making the current Ming Dynasty worse? Is it because of your own selfish interests that you ignore my interests and the interests of the Ming Dynasty? "
In the twelfth month of winter, Wang Chengen was lying on the ground with faint sweat on his face. He naturally knew about the eight eunuchs with palm prints yesterday, but he didn't expect that the eight eunuchs with palm prints didn't know the importance and wrote everything on them. Could it be that they were going to cause huge waves in the palace? No wonder the emperor doesn't seem to believe anyone now and wants to let the eunuchs who have just left the inner study hall learn to handle government affairs!
While he was thinking about it, he suddenly felt something strange. He took a sneak peek and found that Emperor Chongzhen was squatting in front of him without any form. He was startled again and quickly lowered his head.
Emperor Chongzhen looked at him and continued: "What makes me happy is that you did not disappoint me too much! However, there are some things that you should know about, but why don't you report them to me? Is it because he is your adoptive father? Huh? In your eyes, my adoptive father is more important than me?"
As soon as he heard this, Wang Chengen's sweat started to flow down his face, but he didn't know what those eight people had revealed about Cao Huachun, which made the emperor so angry, so he could only lie on the ground and said repeatedly: "This slave deserves to die, this slave deserves to die..." …”
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen seemed a little impatient and interrupted: "Okay, don't say anything useless. Just raise your head and look at me!"
When Wang Chengen heard this, he slowly raised his head, and the sweat on his forehead was obvious. There was already a look of fear in his eyes.
"You don't have to be afraid!" Emperor Chongzhen reached out and patted his head, still saying with a little anger on his face, "Since I'm telling you this, I just want to give you a chance. I believe you are still loyal to me!"
Historical events have proven that Wang Chengen was indeed loyal to Emperor Chongzhen. But this does not mean that he will not do some illegal things behind Emperor Chongzhen's back.
Hearing Emperor Chongzhen's words, Wang Chengen was slightly relieved and quickly replied: "Your Majesty is wise, and the loyalty of this servant to Your Majesty can be learned from heaven and earth!"
"Okay, in this case, I will give you a chance!" Emperor Chongzhen said, stood up, and started pacing in the hall again, and at the same time said, "Tell me about Cao Daban's affairs, such as accepting the foreign court. Regarding the matter of filial piety, let me see if your loyalty to me will exceed your loyalty to your adoptive father!"
In fact, Emperor Chongzhen's affair with Cao Huachun came from Xue Guoguan's complaint against the factory guard in the palace that day, and the fact that Cao Huachun accepted Yang Sichang as a filial piety from the eavesdropping system. More specifically, the original Emperor Chongzhen didn't know about it at all, and neither did he.
However, Wang Chengen didn't know. He thought that someone among the eight palm eunuchs had told the emperor everything about Cao Huachun. Otherwise, how could the emperor know that Cao Huachun had been accepted by the foreign court as a filial piety?
Thinking about it, some things seem to be somewhat similar to what happened when the emperor discovered the inner study hall. It's no wonder that the eunuchs with palm prints would expose this matter. Comparing the inside and outside, the emperor will definitely not care about such a trivial matter in the inner study hall anymore.
Therefore, at this moment, Wang Chengen had no choice but to start with what Emperor Chongzhen pointed out. It was okay not to say this, but once he said it, Emperor Chongzhen was immediately startled. He didn't expect that the government would be so corrupt!
