Daming Yinghua

Chapter 248

On August 14st, the No.[-] emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Changluo, completed his enthronement ceremony, with the reign name Taichang.

Due to etiquette, this year name will not be used until the first month of the next year. In the next four months, all records of the empire will still use the first emperor's year name "Wanli".

Retaining the year name, no matter how solemnly the Ministry of Rites said it, in everyone's heart, it was just a superficial article.

The political animals in the two capitals of the empire and the provincial and state capitals have a sense of "remaining" and focus more on the personnel changes of important officials inside and outside the court.

Anyone who is well-informed and knows that Wanli's edict was drafted by Zhu Changluo's teacher Sun Chengzong will probably conclude that Fang Congzhe, the chief assistant of the cabinet, has come to the end of his "career of being alone".

Everyone guessed that Zhou Jiamo, the official minister at the time, Zhang Wenda, the censor of Zuodu at the time, and Ye Xianggao, the former chief assistant of the cabinet, who was resigned from office at home, were those who would join the cabinet. , or the pro-Donglin faction are all possible candidates.

As for the new leader of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, there is no need to choose, it must be Wang An, the loyal companion who will protect Zhu Changluo all the way.

On this day, near Shenchu, northeast of the Forbidden City, near Longevity Mountain.

Liu Shimin came out from the Inner Weaving and Dyeing Bureau and waited at the door of the Supervisor of Rites opposite.

Soon, several big pengs in scarlet clothes stepped out the door.

"Eunuch Lu, Eunuch Cui, Eunuch Wang..."

Liu Shimin stepped forward and saluted Lu Shou, Cui Wensheng, and Wang An three Quan Dang one by one.

Lu Shou, who is still the eunuch in charge of the chief inspector, twitched his mouth, glanced at Cui Wensheng, and said with a smile to Wang An: "You godson, you are about to retire and return home like our family."

The emperor's will stopped weaving. Liu Shimin happened to be in charge of the weaving bureau, and Lu Shou was about to resign from the post of Ritual Superintendent, so he teased Liu Shimin like this.

Lu Shou is an old man in front of Wanli. Many years ago, he formed an alliance with Cui Wensheng, a trusted eunuch of Concubine Zheng, and bet that Zhu Changxun would be made the prince, but unfortunately things backfired.

When the Queen of Wanli passed away this spring, Lu Shou bet again that Concubine Zheng Gui would get the successor, but he was wrong again.

Concubine Zheng did not receive the posthumous title from the dying emperor's husband, nor did she receive the empress dowager's words of respect in the will drafted by the opposition civil servants.

Not long before Zhu Chang took the throne before Luo Ling, Fang Congzhe, the chief assistant, asked Lu Shou about it. He heard that people from Dongchang had entered the Jinyiwei North Town Fusi, and skinned the Jiangnan literati who preached the evil deeds of Fu Wang Zhu Changxun in the capital. Layer, this is a scholar who wants to challenge the world.

Lu Shou then understood that Fang Huhu, who was old in the officialdom, was hinting to him that Wang An and Donglin would control the next inner and outer courts, and Fang's chief assistant was going to be a man with his tail between his legs. Lu's palm print should be more interesting, hurry up Make room for the seal of the supervisor of ceremonies and give it to Wang An.

Letting them out by themselves, and asking people to drive them down, the latter will not only lose face, but may even lose their lives.

At this moment, Cui Wensheng, who was beside Lu Shou, squinted his triangular eyes, and accepted Lu Shou's complaints with a fake smile: "Eunuch Lu is right, Eunuch Liu is the most beloved junior of Eunuch Wang, and we A well-known talent in the 24 yamen of the inner court, Jiangnan Sanzhi can't go, so you can come to our Lijian to be a pen."

Liu Shimin bent his waist even lower, and respectfully said to Quan Dang, who was beside Concubine Zheng, "Eunuch Cui, how dare you have any inappropriate thoughts in a lowly position? You are here because the Songjiang mansion has entered the palace again." Some new silk-cotton blended sweat towels, because last time Long Live Lord said that he likes blue and lighter, so today I am humbled to ask the prince to go to the Weaving and Dyeing Bureau to take care of it."

Cui Wensheng walked over and patted him on the shoulder: "Well, the Inner Weaving and Dyeing Bureau is also a good place, fat."

After saying that, accompanied by Lu Shou, he walked away.

Wang An had a gentle expression from the beginning to the end.

Seeing the two inner court political enemies walking away, he raised his hand to signal Liu Shimin, who was still bowing, and said in a low voice, "I have wronged you", while walking into the inner weaving and dyeing bureau.

In the depths of the Weaving and Dyeing Bureau, after the trusted little eunuch closed the door, Wang An straight to the point said to Liu Shimin, "Ruoyu, let me ask you about someone, Songjiang Zheng family, Zheng Haizhu. Is this woman from Donglin?"

Liu Shimin, just like before, said without any hesitation in front of Wang An: "Godfather, when she was hired by Han's parents, she made friends with Huang Zunsu, a civil servant of the Donglin School. Had a feud with the relatives of Yao Zongwen's family in the Zhejiang Party, and finally got that Yao Qianhu into prison. However, if it is said that she is a member of Donglin's sect, I think that this girl is like Xu Guangqi and Sun Yuanhua who like Taixi. Firearms, come closer."

Wang An lowered his eyes and listened carefully. The information was basically consistent with what Dong Qichang, Yang Lian and others had passed on, so he nodded and said, "It's fine if it's not the Qi Chu and Zhejiang Party. Ruoyu, the eldest son of the emperor will leave the cabinet to study soon. Some people came to tell me, let this Zheng family come and give lectures to my brother."

Liu Shimin was taken aback.

That day in her own house, Zheng Haizhu said that she was going to see Yang Lian Zuo Guangdou, Liu Shimin thought that it was like doing business with Huang Zunsu, doing business and recruiting soldiers, and finding Donglin Wenchen, who was about to gain power in Beijing, as a backer. Unexpectedly, This girl was so favored by Yang Lian and the others.

Seeing Liu Shimin's surprise, Wang An changed the subject, and said kindly, "Ruoyu, why do you think I'm so close to Donglin?"

Liu Shimin said: "Because Donglin has always adhered to the right way in the struggle for the foundation of the country."

Wang Andao: "That's right, Ruoyu, our family will be with whoever treats my brother well. Yang Lian's words moved me this time because, this Zheng family is worried about the new king, and we are all the same. "

"What's wrong with her?" Liu Shimin inquired.

Wang An looked outside the door, leaned over and said in a low voice: "She was right about one thing. She said that Concubine Zheng may not let it go, she must first keep her seat in charge of the harem. Inferior, it is impossible to be a queen mother, so the title of queen mother is very important. Concubine Zheng needs to win over the new emperor and ask the new emperor to give her the title of queen mother. What tricks can a harem woman come up with, nothing more than In the name of Guangyan's heirs, give her a woman."

When Liu Shimin heard the last few words, his eyes were full of surprise and praise, and he blurted out: "As expected, there was a lot of movement in Yikun Palace yesterday. Concubine Zheng sent eight beauties to Qianqing Palace."

Wang An said in a deep voice: "Long Live Lord is so soft-tempered that he even picked up those eight palace servants. Cough, let's not talk about it. It's just that Zheng Haizhu is so good at guessing all kinds of thoughts, and she invited Yingying to come to Wenhua Palace by herself. It's worth using. Even if she works for the Tian family, she has her own plan. Yang Lian said that the plan is mostly to stabilize her own property and soldiers, and to make firearms for the court and guard the country. There is nothing wrong with it. What's more , She gave lectures to the eldest grandson of the emperor, talked about new things outside, and won the favor of the little brother, and the little brother might tell her the secrets of the inner court that you and I don't know."

Liu Shimin already understood what Wang An and Yang Lian were thinking.

In fact, before Wang An asked him today, he should have already made a decision. As long as Liu Shimin, as another source of information, did not reveal any flaws about Zheng Haizhu, Wang An's decision would not be changed.

But Liu Shimin, thinking of the big changes that might happen in a year or a few months, somehow hoped that the girl surnamed Zheng would stay as far away from Zhu's house as possible.

"Godfather," Liu Shimin weighed his words, and said, "It does sound like we have another good helper, but the lecturers in the Wenhua Palace have always been Hanlin bachelors, and this Zheng family has no name or title. I'm just afraid that the officials outside will splash dirty water with their mouths open."

Wang An waved his hand: "Yang Lian is a speech officer herself, and she has thought about this section a long time ago. Mrs. Zheng, it's just that she doesn't have the title of editor or editor of the Imperial Academy, but she has an imperial order, which is also given by the court. Fame. Besides, Xu Guangqi was a teacher of the emperor. Is his reputation enough? Xu Guangqi likes fire attacks from Western methods, and the courtiers know it all. As his disciples, he taught together. Didn’t the late emperor say in the last edict that worries and quarrels have already begun, and it is better to send more internal money to help the military. How did the Battle of Fushun teach the Tartars? Isn’t it because of artillery and guns? In keeping with the late emperor's last wish, teach the emperor's eldest son the method that can stop the border wars."

The more Wang An said, the smoother he was, as if he was in the state of telling the time to the new king.

Liu Shimin still wanted to make a final effort, and said with embarrassment: "But she is a woman, will the other lecturers of the Imperial Academy...especially that old-fashioned Sun Chengzong."

Wang An chuckled lightly: "Ruoyu, thanks to the fact that you have been in the palace for 20 years, the female officials of each bureau and department in the palace, from seventh rank to fifth rank, and hundreds of people, are not the emperor's concubines. There is no lack of dealings, and there are people who go in and out of the Wenhua Palace. Why, a foreign woman entered the Wenhua Palace, but made those Hanlin masters feel ashamed?"

Liu Shimin choked for words, but finally changed his attitude of relief: "It's my son who is stupid. Godfather is right."

(End of this chapter)