The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 601: Eunuchs' World

The next day, Jia Huan deliberately waited until the morning court session was over before entering the palace to meet the emperor. He waited for a while in front of the Zuo Shun Gate, and a young palace servant came out and said, "The emperor is having breakfast. Please summon Lord Jia to the South Study Room to meet him later."

Jia Huan hesitated and asked, "Should I wait here or come back later?"

The palace maid smiled and said, "That's not necessary. Lord Jia, please come with us. It's still a long way from here to the South Study. If we walk slowly now, I'm afraid we'll have just enough time."

"Thank you, eunuch." Jia Huan bowed politely.

The palace maid turned around and walked back to the palace. Jia Huan followed slowly behind her. After walking for a while, she suddenly stopped, turned around and asked with a smile: "Master Jia, you probably don't remember my family, right?"

Jia Huan carefully looked at the palace servant, and suddenly an idea flashed in his mind. He smiled and said, "How could I not remember Eunuch Li!"

The palace maid smiled brightly and said, "I thought Lord Jia had forgotten about me because he was getting more and more powerful now."

It turned out that this palace servant was none other than the eunuch Li Jinzhong who had gone to the Lin family's ancestral home in Gusu last year to deliver the imperial decree to posthumously confer a title on Lin Ruhai. After more than a year, he had obviously gained weight, and his face had become rounder and rosy. He must be doing well, at least his food was excellent.

Li Jinzhong was obviously very happy to see Jia Huan recognized him. He gave him a thumbs up and praised him, "Master Jia really has a good memory. No wonder he won six prizes in a row. He is really the God of Literature."

As Li Jinzhong spoke, he couldn't help but show emotion on his face. When he went to Gusu to convey the imperial edict last year, Jia Huan was still a commoner. Only more than a year had passed, and this kid had already reached the fourth rank. This speed of promotion was truly terrifying.

Jia Huan said modestly: "It was just luck. Eunuch Li, thank you for your praise. I wonder where Eunuch Li is now?"

Li Jinzhong was already very happy that Jia Huan still remembered him. Seeing that Jia Huan did not put on the airs of a civil servant, he naturally felt closer to him. He smiled and said, "He is not a high-ranking official. He just does some odd jobs under the chief of the Imperial Household Department, Chen Zongzhu."

The Chen Zongzhu mentioned by Li Jinzhong is none other than Chen Ju, the current eunuch who holds the seal of Silijian. Silijian is the head of all the eunuchs, so the eunuch who holds the seal of Silijian is respectfully called Zongzhu.

At this time, Li Jinzhong continued: "However, thanks to the support of Sect Master Chen, I will soon be transferred to the Min Palace to serve His Royal Highness the Min Prince."

As Li Jinzhong spoke, he could not hide the smug look on his face.

The fat boy Xu Wenhou was originally the most useless son of Emperor Qiansheng. He was not only timid and cowardly, but also obese, so no one had high hopes for him. As a result, a civil strife broke out and all the other princes were killed by Crown Prince Xu Wenhong. Then Jinzhou fell, Prince Dai died in battle, and Prince Qing was captured by the Jurchens and his life or death is still unknown.

As a result, Min Wang Xu Wenhou became the only surviving adult prince. In view of the fact that the twelfth prince born to Jia Yuanchun had just turned one year old and could be almost ignored, the possibility of Min Wang being made the crown prince was more than 90%. It was really a stroke of luck for Li Jinzhong to be transferred to Min Wang's mansion to serve Xu Wenhou at this time. No wonder he was so proud of himself.

Jia Huan's heart was moved, and he bowed and said, "Congratulations to Eunuch Li."

Li Jinzhong's eyes flashed, and he said with a smile: "It is a blessing for me to serve His Royal Highness Prince Min. I heard that Lord Jia and His Royal Highness Prince Min are close friends. I still hope that Lord Jia can help me in the future."

Just as Jia Huan was about to say something modest, he saw an old eunuch in a scarlet robe, accompanied by several young eunuchs, approaching him. When Li Jinzhong saw this man, he immediately calmed down, stood respectfully to the side of the road, bowed and said, "Eunuch Shi!"

This Shi Gongmo was about fifty years old, with a white face and no beard, a leopard-like head, round eyes, and a pointed chin. He looked a bit like Shen Gongbao in the movie "Nezha". He didn't even look at Li Jinzhong, but only looked at Jia Huan, and said in a gloomy voice: "This young man must be Jia Ziming, the military governor of Ningyuan, right?"

Jia Huan frowned secretly. This voice was really a bit uncomfortable to listen to. He said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "I am Jia Huan. May I ask what is the name of this eunuch?"

Li Jinzhong quickly introduced: "Eunuch Shi is the new eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department and the commander of the Eastern Investigation Bureau."

Jia Huan couldn't help but be slightly surprised, because the Great Jin only had the Jinyiwei secret agency, and there seemed to be no East Factory?

Eunuch Shi obviously saw Jia Huan's confusion and said with a chuckle, "My name is Shi Dayong. I used to do odd jobs like sweeping and watering in the Imperial Palace. At the beginning of last month, the Emperor established the Eastern Investigation Office. Seeing that I was still useful, he transferred me to supervise the Eastern Investigation Office and concurrently serve as the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department."

It turned out that since the incident of the emperor's restoration and seizure of power, Emperor Qiansheng had become more and more suspicious, and the Jinyiwei's intelligence agency had completely failed in this matter, which made Emperor Qiansheng very angry. So he set up the Dongjishichang, which was dominated by eunuchs, to supervise all officials and check and balance the Jinyiwei.

Although the Jinyiwei were the emperor's trusted personal troops, they were still external officials. In the eyes of the emperor, they were naturally not as reliable as the eunuchs. After all, the eunuchs could serve the emperor in the palace and be available at any time. Moreover, eunuchs lacked the parts of normal men and could not reproduce. Naturally, they could not covet the emperor's power. At most, they would just embezzle some money. It was convenient and reliable to use them. Jia Huan was speechless at this moment. With the appearance of the East Factory, the Jin Dynasty in the world of the Red Mansion became more and more like the Ming Dynasty.

Let’s talk about Shi Dayong, the first commander of the East Depot. He exchanged a few meaningless polite words with Jia Huan, then left in a haughty manner surrounded by a group of young eunuchs.

Li Jinzhong curled his lips and said with disdain: "Look at how arrogant he is. He is just an incense holder. Now he has got some shit luck and he is so arrogant. Pah!"

Jia Huan's heart moved. Li Jinzhong was a man of Chen Ju, the eunuch who held the seal of the Imperial Household Department, and Shi Dayong was obviously indifferent to Li Jinzhong just now. Could it be that he was not on good terms with Chen Ju?
Hey, Jia Huan really guessed it right. As the saying goes, where there are people, there are rivers and lakes. Although eunuchs are not normal people, they are no exception and they also have their own chain of contempt.

Shi Dayong was originally the eunuch in charge of the Shengongjian, and the duties of the Shengongjian were mainly to sweep the ancestral temple, maintain hygiene, burn incense and light candles, etc. He had no real power and could not be compared with such powerful and lucrative departments as the Silijian, Yuyongjian and Yumajian. He was almost at the bottom of the Twelve Jians in the Inner Palace, so Shi Dayong had always been at the bottom of the contempt chain.

Unexpectedly, Shi Dayong suddenly got lucky and was noticed by Emperor Qiansheng. He was transferred from the Shengongjian to the Dongjishichang as the commander-in-chief. Probably in order to enhance the authority of the Dongjishichang, Shi Dayong was also appointed as the second-in-command of the Silijian - the eunuch Bingbi.

As a result, the eunuch Chen Ju, who held the seal of the Imperial Household Department, was naturally unhappy. After all, Shi Dayong divided his power and directly challenged his authority. Shi Dayong also did not submit to Chen Ju, but he was a new official and did not dare to overturn the table. So he remained obedient on the surface, but in fact he pretended to obey and was disobedient. It was only a matter of time before they fell out.

Let's get back to the point. Li Jinzhong led Jia Huan to the door of the South Study. He asked the guards on duty and learned that the emperor had indeed finished his breakfast. He then said to Jia Huan, "Master Jia, please wait here. I will go in and report to the emperor."

Jia Huan waited outside the southern study for a while, and Li Jinzhong came out and said with a smile: "The emperor wants to see Lord Jia."

Jia Huan straightened his hat and walked into the southern study room. He was greeted by a large antique screen. He turned around the screen and saw the real appearance of the study room. He saw Emperor Qiansheng sitting behind the imperial desk, and behind him was a wall-mounted bookshelf with a dazzling array of books.

Jia Huan did not dare to look closely, but only took a quick glance, then walked to the imperial desk and knelt down without looking away: "Your Highness, I, Jia Huan, pay my respects to you."

Emperor Qiansheng waved his hand and said calmly: "Stand up!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Jia Huan stood up as he was told.

Emperor Qiansheng put down a memorial in his hand and asked, "I asked you to guard Ningyuan and strengthen the military preparations. What are the results now? Have the Jiannu invaded recently?"

Jia Huan had prepared a speech before he came, so he answered all the questions asked by Emperor Qiansheng fluently. After listening to him, the emperor was obviously very satisfied and asked again: "I heard that you are planning to build a 3,000-man cavalry. How is the progress?"

"Your Majesty, we have recruited 500 people so far. We should be able to recruit as many as we can next spring, and we will be able to form a preliminary fighting force within two years."

Emperor Qiansheng frowned and said, "Two years is too slow to form a fighting force. The Jiannu are still determined and I'm afraid they will attack us in the spring."

Jia Huan said calmly: "According to the intelligence I have obtained, Nurhaci is trying to attack the Khalkha tribe. It is less likely that he will attack Ningyuan next year. But if the Jiannu invade, I am confident that Ningyuan City is as solid as a rock. As for the cavalry I want to build, it must be able to compete with the Jiannu cavalry, so it will take a long time to train and polish it. Two years is not a long time."

Jia Huan also introduced his recruitment standards, training goals and ideas, etc. After listening to him, Emperor Qiansheng's expression was indeed a little relieved. He nodded and said, "It sounds good. Then I will wait for the time when Jia Qing's Guanning Iron Cavalry will become famous throughout the world."

Jia Huan said confidently: "I will live up to the emperor's expectations."

Emperor Qiansheng nodded and said, "Please leave. We will go to Fengzao Palace later. Concubine Jia and you have not seen each other for many years. Take this opportunity for the two siblings to meet."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Jia Huan quickly knelt down to express his gratitude, and then he carefully left the southern study room. In his heart, he was secretly wondering why Emperor Qiansheng suddenly asked him to meet Jia Yuanchun. Was this a special favor? Or was it a false test?
You should know that Emperor Qiansheng now has only two heirs, one is Min Wang Xu Wenhou, and the other is the twelfth prince born to Jia Yuanchun last year, who has just turned one year old. As for Prince Qing who was captured by the Jurchens, his life or death is still unknown and there is a high probability that he will not come back.

Since ancient times, whenever there was a dispute over the position of crown prince, it was always bloody. If one was not careful, losing one's job was the least serious, but losing one's head was the worst!
When Jia Huan walked out of the South Study, he found an old eunuch already waiting there. It was none other than Xia Shouzhong, the head eunuch of Fengzao Palace. Jia Huan had dealt with him several times before. To be honest, this eunuch Xia was a bit greedy for money and often extorted money from the Jia family.

"Young Master Jia, I have been waiting for you here for a long time. The imperial concubine has been talking about you for a long time. Please come with us." As soon as Xia Shouzhong saw Jia Huan, he immediately came forward with a smile on his face.

(End of this chapter)