This is after reading Shen Cang's excerpts first and then looking at Liu Daxia's excerpts. Comparing the former, it seems that the latter is obsessed with power. After all, the latter will be seventy this year, which is more than ten years older than Shen Cang. Even Shen Cang is Why was Liu Daxia so reluctant to become an official because he was worried that his illness would delay the official duties of the Ministry of Justice and let his descendants be worthy?
However, if Liu Daxia's excerpts are in mind, first read Liu Daxia's excerpts and then Shen Cang's excerpts, would you think that Shen Cang is slacking off in his official duties? He has to hang up his job just because of a minor illness, and lacks loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, and dedicates himself to the whole life.
At this moment, the young internal official was already thinking a lot in his mind.
The cabinet had a proposal, but both proposals were rejected. Regarding Shen Cang's proposal, he was given leave to recuperate, exempted from court, and his official duties were temporarily taken over by Zuo Shilang. The proposal of Liu Daxia's proposal was similar.
Although Emperor Hongzhi was dissatisfied with Liu Daxia, he had no intention of rejecting the plan prepared by the cabinet. However, thinking of Shen Cang's age, he couldn't help but frown and said, "Is Shen Cang's health so weak?"
Although Shen Cang is more than twenty years older than him, he is not that big in the capital. Even if he is ill for a while, there is no reason to resign unless he is riddled with wounds and overwhelmed.
When Emperor Hongzhi thought of his own body, his mood was particularly complicated.
Xiao Jing bowed and said: "This old slave knows better. Shen Shangshu is already a little sick, and he fell ill again in March..."
"After all, he is an important minister of the imperial court. Even if he complains about illness, how can he ignore it? Send the message to the Taiyuan Hospital, and the hospital will arrange for the imperial doctor to go to the Shen family and the Liu family to inquire about the illness of the two beloved ministers..." Emperor Hongzhi put down the note. , told the official next to him.
"My slave obeys the order." The official responded and left.
Only then did Emperor Hongzhi pay attention to the young internal official following Xiao Jing. Looking at his kind face, he said to Xiao Jing: "In the past two months, I have seen him following you. Is he your new disciple? He looks like a neat person." 's children."
Xiao Jing had a proud expression on his face and said: "Your Majesty is really bright-eyed. This is my new disciple. He is now an internal official of the highest rank of the Chief of Ceremonies... But this is not because this slave is showing favoritism. In fact, this child is eager to learn and strive for success. With his Become a lieutenant officer based on your ability..."
Emperor Hongzhi was a little surprised after hearing this, and looked at the young internal official a few times. Although he was young, he was served by a senior official: "It's rare to see an old man like you praising someone like this. It shows that he is really Okay, but why do I feel that you are kind-hearted?"
Xiao Jing smiled and said: "Isn't he kind-hearted? When this child was young, the slaves were still serving His Majesty, and he often followed He Mu..."
Zhao Zhong was the former eunuch who was responsible for the rituals and eunuchs. He died of illness a few years ago.
Hearing what Xiao Jing said, Emperor Hongzhi became a little curious about the young internal officials. To be valued by the two eunuchs before and after Si Li Jian, it can be seen that the man in front of him is indeed capable.
"What are their advantages?" Emperor Hongzhi asked next.
Xiao Jing said: "Qinxue, this kid worked in the Royal Horse Prison in his early years, and he also came out of the inner school. His homework is excellent, and he has been praised by several bachelors... Even now, after official duties, I can see that he can't put down the papers... He came out of the inner school. There are so many middle-ranking officers, but there are really not many who have learned all the lessons and rules as well as this child...
Emperor Hongzhi nodded and said: "This whole body has the aroma of books, which is indeed different from others."
The young internal official bowed his head, sweat already dripping from his forehead.
Emperor Hongzhi had no follow-up, and he and Xiao Jing started talking about other things.
After a quarter of an hour, the young internal officials followed Xiao Jing and the others out of Qianqing Palace.
As soon as I went out, I bumped into an internal official from Kunning Palace.
When the official saw it was Xiao Jing, he pushed him aside and said respectfully: "Grandpa Xiao..."
Xiao Jing raised his eyelids, glanced at the suitcase in the hand of the eunuch, and said with a faint smile: "Did the Queen send soup to the Emperor again?"
The official bowed and said: "Yes, Nanjing Autumn Gong has arrived, and the empress made the soup with her own hands..."
Xiao Jing waved his hand and said: "Then send it quickly, don't let it get cold..." After that, he stepped away.
The young lieutenant behind him bowed to the suitcase and followed Xiao Jing.
The Supervisor of Ceremonies is in the imperial city, in the northeast corner outside the palace city.
After returning to the Supervisor of Ceremonies, Xiao Jing said to the young lieutenant: "Qi Yan, I have been to Qianqing Palace several times in the past few days. What have you found?"
This young lieutenant-general was none other than Bo Liuzhong, the Superintendent of Ceremonies who had once been known as Wang Shouren's "senior brother" in private.
Liu Zhong thought for a while, then lowered his voice and said: "The emperor is getting more and more clean... I am afraid that the queen's life is not going well now..."
You can tell at a glance that the emperor's face has lost weight. When the queen's favor was at its peak, she used to stay in the back hall of the Qianqing Palace, rising and sleeping with the emperor. But now she can only send the middle-ranking officials to deliver soup to the emperor. This kind of treatment is not good. The difference is huge.
Xiao Jing nodded, his brows knitted together.
As the chief eunuch of the Chief of Ceremonies, even the elders of the pavilion were polite to him when they saw him, which was an unparalleled honor. However, Xiao Jing also understood in his heart that all the honor and disgrace of his family were tied to the emperor.
One emperor and one courtier applies not only to the outer court, but also to the inner court.
It is not easy for ministers to start well and end well.
It's been a hundred years since we met an emperor with such a gentle temper as the current emperor. Xiao Jing was a confidant of the emperor and knew the emperor's physical condition better than others. He couldn't help but worry, and his desire to send Liu Zhong to the East Palace became more and more serious. However, he has always been cautious and would not do anything in private.
While the emperor is still here, he goes to the East Palace to curry favor with him. There are more than one or two people who want to seek the service of the dragon, but this person cannot be Xiao Jing.
Otherwise, the emperor will be annoyed. You don’t have to wait for the emperor’s funeral. You can get him angry with just one sentence.
"We can't let those people in the East Palace get up..." Xiao Jing said with a gloomy face.
The emperor was lenient and seldom dealt with internal officials, but the strife between the imperial officials and internal officials never stopped. Even though he was an eunuch who had cut off his descendants and could not be considered a real man, his thirst for power and money never diminished.
As a qualified imperial servant, Xiao Jing was the winner among the internal officials and took charge of the power of the inner court. As for the internal officials in the East Palace, most of them were losers. Even if they were named young eunuchs in the Twenty-Four Yamen, It is also a false position.
As a powerful eunuch in red, Xiao Jing didn't pay attention to those people at first. However, after Liu Zhong's "inadvertent" reminder, he remembered his early troubles with the officials of the East Palace Department, and couldn't help but worry about what would happen in the future. I thought of sending someone to the East Palace.
Thinking of this, Xiao Jing looked at Liu Zhong again. He was still very satisfied. He took a sip of tea and said firmly: "After today, the emperor will ask someone to inquire about your details... To choose a companion for the prince, he proposed it last year. After a while, it was just the gangsters in the East Palace who were causing trouble, so it was settled... Now the Emperor is paying more attention to the East Palace than before, and he may take the initiative to ask you to come over in a few days..."
After hearing this, Liu Zhong hesitated and said: "Master, do I really want to serve the prince?"
Xiao Jing smiled and said: "Is this really true? If I didn't want to send you off, the Zajia family has been planning it for a month, so why are you here?"
"But my disciple heard that His Highness misses old friendships, and the servants in the East Palace only care about the elderly, and the newcomers cannot come forward..." Liu Zhong said hesitantly.
Xiao Jing snorted softly: "Which old man can't survive as a newcomer? Even those who are now in the East Palace and have high reputations, they didn't serve the prince from the beginning... Those who can really be called old people in the East Palace have long been squeezed out by Liu Jin and the others. I don’t know where I went…”
If the six ministers of Nanjing retired due to illness or retired from official positions, it would be just a joke to the officials in the capital; but if the six ministers of the capital resign, it would be a major event that would shock the world.
The shortage of Jiuqing in the capital is something that is rare. This year is the year of "Beijing Supervision" again, and there are not one or two people who are eligible for promotion. It was just that Dajiuqing kept it secret before. Even if the seniority of the lower ones has reached, the top If we don't make room, we can't do anything about it.
Needless to say, Liu Daxia, the Minister of the Ministry of War, is old and weak, and there are more than one or two officials in the capital waiting for him to retire; Shen Cang, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, makes people unsure whether he is sincerely pursuing an official career, or is he just pretending to have other plans?
The officials who received the news had their own thoughts and suspicions, but the relatives and in-laws who were close to Shangshu Mansion were only shocked.
Today is not an ordinary day, today is the first day of autumn, and Shen Rui will end today.
Regardless of Shen Rui's response today, as Shen Cang recovers from his illness, Shen Rui will have to serve as an heir and will not be allowed to attend the next two exams, otherwise he will be suspected of being unfilial.
As a person, Shen Cang would not be willing to delay Shen Rui's rural examination as long as his body could persist. If he can't persist now, then his health must be really bad.
Everyone was so anxious that they didn't care to wait until the Yamen closed down, so they all asked for leave and went to the Shangshu Mansion.
The first person to arrive was Yang Zhen, the minister of Dali Temple. He was Shen Cang's sister-in-law and his junior brother. He also entered the Shen family's house. He did not wait in the front yard and living room, but directly asked the housekeeper to lead him to the main courtyard.
Shen Cang took the medicine and fell into a drowsy sleep.
Mrs. Xu got the news and came out to welcome him.
"Sister-in-law, brother, he..." Yang Zhen asked with worry on his face.
Mrs. Xu glanced towards the east room and whispered: "Master is asleep. Master, please come with me to the west room to have tea..."
Although Yang Zhen came from a scholarly family, his family was in decline. If it weren't for the support of the Yue family, he wouldn't be where he is today. Although he now holds a high position in Jiuqing, Yang Zhen's gratitude to Shen Cang, his senior brother and uncle, has never diminished. .
Yang Zhen got the news and hurried over. There was sweat on his forehead, but he didn't bother to wipe it off. He said directly: "Sister-in-law, how is big brother?"
Mrs. Xu smiled bitterly and said: "Even if I don't come today, I will send someone to ask you to speak tomorrow... Since the national mourning in March, my health has not been good. Before the Dragon Boat Festival, I got seriously ill... In July, It’s not very good. I’ve been struggling to support myself for the past ten months..."
Yang Zhen's face turned pale after hearing this. In addition to being in-laws, the two families were also allies.
Now is the critical time for the "Beijing Investigation". Who knows if Shen Cang falls, someone will be eyeing his position as Minister of Dali Temple. In addition to the Shen family, although Yang Zhen has several connections in the officialdom, they are all Face.
Yang Zhen's worries were partly for Shen Cang and partly for his own future. He hesitated and said, "Sister-in-law, brother, can you give me any advice?"