Northern Zhili, capital, and Forbidden City.

In the winter at the end of November, the climate was already very cold. After a brief update, the streets in Beijing were already quiet, which seemed particularly gloomy and desolate. At the important street entrances, soldiers stood, checking the occasionally passing pedestrians. Every household had red or white paper lanterns hanging outside the gates of the doors, and the lights were dim and swaying under the eaves.

Under the faint light, you can see large martial law notices printed with woodblocks on the walls of the streets. In the narrow and long streets and alleys, there are often merchants carrying small lanterns, beating broken gongs or gongs. The shrunk shadows appear and disappear into the darkness. The slow, listless gongs or gongs are gradually fading away in the wind.

The bitter north wind blew by one after another, rolling up the dust on the ground, constantly drifting into the air, and then threw it down fiercely. The strong wind blew the wind and sand, smashing hard on the paper-made window, making a puff sound. Occasionally, the window was broken, and the sound of the owner's busy remediation came.

Every winter, Beijing City will suffer from sandstorms for a period of time, which is a common practice. This year's sandstorms are particularly severe. The reason is that the drought continues to deepen, resulting in a significant reduction in the number of vegetation and crops. In addition, the two invasions of the Tatars ravaged the northern part of the Ming Dynasty, causing a large amount of land to be desolate, and the dust is swept up by the strong wind.

The lights looked very dim, and the entire Forbidden City was shrouded in silence and desolation. There was no figure in the long lonely corridor. After Chongzhen took office, he reduced a large amount of palace expenses, and the number of concubines, palace maids, and eunuchs was greatly reduced. The originally lively Forbidden City suddenly became much deserted overnight. Many places seemed very desolate. The north wind kept blowing, and the bare branches kept shaking, just like a lonely ghost.

Suddenly, a swaying lantern appeared, like a ghost fire suddenly appeared. Suddenly, another lantern appeared. Suddenly, another lantern appeared. The appearance of each lantern not only did not enhance the visibility around, but instead made the surroundings look even more gloomy and terrifying. There were three lanterns in total, reflecting six long and slender shadows. The shadows fell on the palace wall and turned completely, like ghost shadows.

Walking in front was an old eunuch who was a little tired, and walking behind were six small eunuchs. The three small eunuchs were holding lanterns in their hands, and the other three were carrying dark yellow food boxes. They shrank in the cold wind, walking against the wind, and the north wind kept blowing on their faces, and each of them looked red in their cheeks.

Maybe I felt that the palace was really gloomy and the ghost spirit was too strong. The six young eunuchs all seemed a little nervous, and followed the old eunuch in front of me tightly. Only the old eunuch walked slowly, his face was blank, and he didn't care about everything around him. The group was like ghosts, passing through the long corridor, and walking towards the west warm pavilion of Yangxin Hall.

Finally, they came to the outside of the Xihun Pavilion. There were lights in the Xihun Pavilion. The soft lights shot out from the room and cast a yellow halo on the open space at the door. At the entrance of the Xihun Pavilion, two little eunuchs stood solemnly. Seeing the lights and seeing the figures, the six little eunuchs breathed a sigh of relief. Only the old eunuch still had a white expression.

"Bang!"

Suddenly, something was thrown out from it and fell on the ground, but it was a piece of paper that was rubbed together. After the paper rolled for a distance, it slowly spread out. It turned out to be a memorial with a red edge. The red pen at the end of the memorial was vaguely visible.

Before everyone could react, a small eunuch hurriedly ran out from inside. The little eunuch looked aggrieved and frightened. He saw the old eunuch and other eunuchs coming, but he didn't have time to say hello. After picking up the memorial, he hurried in again.

The old eunuch walked in slowly, as if he had returned to his own home. The laying in the West Warehouse was actually very simple, with no furniture, only a few embroidery stakes, which were left for others to sit. In the innermost part, there was a desk. There was a young man in his twenties, wearing a yellow ball of dragon robe, sitting behind the desk. But he saw him frowning and writing quickly, and he ignored everything around him.

The only one wearing yellow dragon robe in the Forbidden City was the emperor. This young man was Zhu Youjian, the current emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Because of his reign, he was generally called Emperor Chongzhen. Due to his excessive labor in state affairs, he was only twenty-five years old, and he looked a little old, with a trace of white hair on both sides of his hair.

Chongzhen was reviewing the memorial. He didn't know what he saw, but his mood was always in a state of depression. The weather outside the West Warehouse was cold, but there was a delicate small stove burning inside the Warehouse. The exception was too large, and Chongzhen's face looked a little too rosy.

The arrival of the old eunuch was quietly, and did not alarm Emperor Chongzhen, who was paying attention to the memorials. He waved his hand gently, and the two eunuchs serving next to him immediately felt as if they were granted a general amnesty and hurriedly turned around. Chongzhen's mood to review the memorials was always bad. The people who were waiting around were careful and did not dare to breathe. He was afraid that if he was not careful, he would be beaten.

Chongzhen did not realize that there had been a change around him. He continued to review the memorials. On his left, there were memorials that had not been reviewed, almost as thick as three fingers, pressed with heavy white jade paperweight. On his right, they were all reviewed, almost as high as a standing slap, pressed with topaz paperweight.

The contents of the memorials are different. In the face of each memorial, Chongzhen's mood is of course different. He only saw him frowning, gritting his teeth, helpless, twitching, thinking hard, shook his head and sighing, and all the time. The emperor used the memorials to understand the people of the world. The joys, anger, sorrows, and happiness of the people of the world were concentrated on his face.

"waste!"

Suddenly, Chongzhen cursed angrily, rubbed a memorial together, and threw it aside. This was a completely habitual subconscious action, extremely skillful.

The old eunuch picked up the memorial silently and slowly spread it flat, but did not look at the content above. However, the following copy of the redemption was too conspicuous, so he still saw it. The font of the copy was not a good thing, which shows Chongzhen's anger.

"waste!"

Suddenly, Chongzhen cursed again, threw a memorial together, and threw it on the ground. The movement was still so skillful, completely subconscious.

The main responsibility of the two little eunuchs in the West Warehouse was to constantly pick up these pieces of paper, then carefully unfold them, flatten them, and then gently place them beside Chongzhen. Now, the two little eunuchs have left, and only the old eunuch has completed this responsibility alone.

While reviewing the memorials, Chongzhen threw paper balls littered. Every time he threw a piece of paper ball, the old eunuch would slowly pick it up, then use his thin fingers to spread the balls, flatten them, and then carefully stack them together. What was the content of the memorial? The old eunuch consciously didn't read it, but the main writer behind the memorial was too conspicuous. As long as he opened his eyes, he could not ignore it.

The old eunuch couldn't help but shook his head slightly. Recently, the emperor's reply has too many such words. One sentence or two is acceptable, but too much is worse. If the ministers had received such criticisms in the past, they would definitely be frightened and anxious all day long. A statement of apology must not be missed. They even hang themselves. But now... alas, apart from directly sending the Jinyiwei to get people, there are no many people who are afraid of such criticisms in the red pen.

"I'm useless! I just know I'm asking for money!"

Suddenly, Chongzhen cursed again, rubbed several memorials hard, subconsciously raised his head and wanted to throw it outside the Yangxin Palace. As a result, when he raised his head, the light of his eyes finally saw the old eunuch. His hand slowly stopped in the air, and then slowly retracted. The ball of paper in his hand was stopped.

Seeing the old eunuch's slightly hunched figure, Emperor Chongzhen's anger immediately calmed down, as if he had seen his relatives, he said with relief: "Big companion, you are here."

Those who are qualified to be called a big partner by Emperor Chongzhen are naturally Wang Chengen, the old eunuch of the Xinwang Mansion who served Chongzhen since childhood. There are many eunuchs around Chongzhen, including Gao Qiqian, Cao Huachun, and Zhang Yixian, who are on the list, but the one who trusts the most from beginning to end is this "big partner" who has played with since childhood.

Wang Chengen flattened all the memorials, showed a careful smile, and slowly said, "Master, it's late at night, you can eat something first."

Chongzhen shook his head and said, "Don't be hungry."

Wang Chengen knew his master's character and wanted to suffer from face. He would not change his words even if you said too much to him. He immediately waved his hand gently and asked the eunuch to bring the food box in and place the midnight snack on the small dining table next to it. In fact, the food box looks exquisite, but the midnight snack inside is very simple, with only millet porridge, pickles, pancakes, etc.

In order to save expenses, Chongzhen ordered his food expenses to be reduced from 1,064 taels per month to less than 400 taels, and Shangshenjian also reduced a large number of people. The dishes also required vegetarian dishes to be the main one. Of course, the so-called savings are just for people to see. In the corners that Chongzhen could not see, I don’t know how much money was swallowed up.

Sure enough, Chongzhen couldn't help it when he smelled the aroma of millet porridge. He was indeed hungry. In front of his partner, he didn't need to be reserved or anything. He stood up, stretched his waist, and sat aside to drink the porridge. There was an advantage of Chongzhen's meal, which was that it was more casual and did not need anyone to serve him. Therefore, all the other eunuchs retreated outside the warmhouse.

When Chongzhen was drinking porridge, Wang Chengen sorted out all the memorials. If other eunuchs were sorting out the memorials, they would definitely browse them quickly and then write them down the contents as their capital to gain benefits. However, Wang Chengen never did such a thing. He would definitely not take the initiative to read the contents of the memorials.

Unlike other eunuchs, Wang Chengen had no desire to take over power in the past, present, or future. Although he was the eunuch of the East Factory and the eunuch of the Secretariat and seal, his power was completely the same as that of Liu Jin and Wei Zhongxian before, he never interfered in specific affairs and never made any comments on political affairs.

This has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that it does not interfere in political affairs and is deeply trusted by Emperor Chongzhen. The disadvantage is that the Dongchang was paralyzed and the state organs lost their role. Although the Dongchang used to do their best to oppress all civil and military officials, it was still very useful in the intelligence system. The Dongchang and the Jinyiwei could persecute anyone, but they would not persecute the emperor. The Dongchang and the Jinyiwei were paralyzed and the Jinyiwei's power was greatly reduced. In fact, it was not a good thing for Emperor Chongzhen.

The two emperors of Jiajing and Wanli lived in the deep palace for a long time and did not attend court for decades. However, the movements and changes in the court were never hidden from the two. The country's machines still operated. Why? It was not because of the intelligence reconnaissance of the Dongchang and the Jinyiwei? As long as the Dongchang and the Jinyiwei master were mastered, the emperor's control over the world was very good. Therefore, some people say that as long as the factory guard is captured, the world is not a problem.

After Chongzhen came to power, he favored all the backbone of the Donglin Party. The Donglin Party hated the factory guards the most and the eunuchs. Therefore, he tried his best to crack down on the factory guards and the eunuchs. At the beginning, Chongzhen also hated the eunuchs, the Jinyiwei, and the Dongchang. Therefore, after ascending the throne, he vigorously restricted the authority of the Dongchang and Jinyiwei. Wang Chengen himself had very little desire for power, and with the emperor's restrictions, the factory guards were naturally seriously injured.

When Chongzhen later discovered that without the help of the factory guards, he could not understand the political affairs of the world at all, and the big mistake had been made and could not be changed. The civil servant group would never let the factory guards continue to grow. With their strong resistance, the Dongchang and the Jinyiwei never had a good time. Speaking of the factory guards of the Chongzhen Dynasty, it was simply negligible.

"Big companion, sit for a while."

After drinking millet porridge, Chongzhen continued to approve the memorial.

Wang Chengen knew that his master's character would rather be exhausted than to have a reputation of being lazy, so he did not dissuade him. Chongzhen's temper was quite stubborn. As long as he knew what he knew, he would rarely change his mind. Even the concubines in the harem could not persuade him. This was deeply understood by even the concubines in the harem. In this world, there was only one person who could make Chongzhen change his mind slightly. This person was Queen Yi'an Zhang Yan. But she also rarely interfered in political affairs.
Chapter completed!