Eight hundred and fortieth chapters the thief shouts to catch the thief
As the recognized No. 1 eunuch, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony is equivalent to the first assistant among the civil servants. Of course, he has a noble status in the palace.
Moreover, as a minister of Conglong, Zhang Zuo was not only respectful to Emperor Jiajing, but also had a temper towards everyone else.
In Zhang Zuo's eyes, Empress Fang was probably just a little woman who had only been in the palace for about ten years.
And he, Zhang Zuo, had served in Prince Xing’s Mansion thirty years ago, and followed Emperor Jiajing into the palace twenty years ago!
Therefore, at this time, Zhang Zuo couldn't help but said something impulsively, without caring whether the words he said were appropriate or not.
Before Eunuch Qin could counterattack tit for tat, Empress Fang asked Zhang Zuo: "I don't understand, what is the meaning of never having peace?
Eunuch Zhang, do you think we shouldn’t investigate carefully, or do you have some hidden agenda and don’t want to see others investigate?”
Eunuch Qin's brain was full of energy and he was making calculations crazily. Empress Fang's words are very interesting to read carefully, very interesting!
Empress Fang took the initiative to accuse Zhang Zuo of "having hidden agendas". Others only regarded it as an angry remark, but Eunuch Qin always felt that the connotation was also very profound. Did it imply the meaning of "a thief shouts to catch a thief"?
Eunuch Qin recalled that after the attack on the sills of Ciqing Palace that day, Empress Dowager Zhang had lost her majesty and could not continue to preside over palace affairs.
Then the palace affairs were handed over to Queen Fang to preside over, creating a situation of two palaces, one inside and one outside.
Therefore, strictly speaking, the biggest beneficiary of the Ciqing Palace sill demolition was actually Empress Fang.
So is there a possibility that the eucalyptus attack on Ciqing Palace was secretly organized by Queen Fang’s forces?
Thinking of this, Eunuch Qin suddenly felt his mind broadening again.
Originally, I came to see Empress Fang today just to initially establish mutual trust and lay a solid foundation for the future.
But now it seems that there may be an unexpected surprise, and if you take advantage of it, you will definitely get twice the result with half the effort.
In addition, even if Empress Fang was behind the attack on the Ciqing Palace sills, Eunuch Qin would not reject it because he thought it was a "black heart" or something.
In an environment like the jungle law in the palace, how can one survive without being "black-hearted"?
Eunuch Qin was perfecting his temporary ideas while listening to the quarrel between Queen Fang and Eunuch Zhang.
In fact, the main reason why Zhang Zuo, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, lost control was not because of Empress Fang, but because he was not used to the sudden aggression shown by eunuch Qin.
In Zhang Zuo's opinion, the Qin eunuchs and Dongchang were greatly affected by the emperor's coma, and they were the eunuchs whose power had shrunk the most recently.
In other words, since the emperor's coma, the eunuch system that relied on the emperor has been on a downward slope, but Dongchang's decline has been particularly rapid.
So at this time of competition, Eunuch Qin should be one of the big losers. He should keep a low profile and pretend to be a grandson in front of the eunuch who is responsible for the ceremony!
But now Eunuch Qin actually extended his hand in a pretentious manner, trying to seize power!
This made the dignified ceremonial supervisor and eunuch feel that his dignity had been offended and that he had been provoked by a "weak person"!
Especially the Queen, a stupid woman, was easily persuaded by an old yin like Eunuch Qin to help Eunuch Qin target her.
So Zhang Zuo responded very forcefully to the other queen: "What I mean is that the Chief of Ceremonies can completely investigate these two matters in the palace. Why does Dongchang need to intervene from the outside?"
Eunuch Qin was observing the situation and felt that another opportunity had appeared. He could conclude that the tougher Zhang Zuo's attitude was, the less Empress Fang would like Zhang Zuo.
Empress Fang was not the kind of soft-spoken woman who had no opinion on everything and was accustomed to relying on others. She would never tolerate Zhang Zuo's strong performance.
Moreover, after the "young new leaders" take office, what they hate most are the "veterans" who don't obey orders.
After thinking for a while, Eunuch Qin took the initiative to interject: "The Chief of Ceremonies is too big, and there are too many affairs that need to be handled. Even state affairs need to be handled confidentially by the Chief of Ceremonies and the cabinet. Even our Dongchang is nominally under the ownership of
Yu Si Li Supervisor.
Therefore, when it comes to these palace affairs, the Chief of Ceremonies should raise his hand a little, and he should grasp everything."
Zhang Zuo only thought that what Eunuch Qin said was all nonsense, and didn't look at what the situation was now?
Without the support of the imperial power, Empress Dowager Zhang, who was supported by civil servants as regent, was useless. It was difficult for eunuchs to be strong in front of civil servants, so what other secrets could they interfere with?
Grasping the three-thirds of an acre of land in the palace is the right path for the eunuch industry!
Can you, Eunuch Qin, still not understand this? Didn’t you, Eunuch Qin, come here today just to seize territory in the palace?
So Zhang Zuo still refused to give in and said: "This is not because the Director of Ceremonies wants to have everything in his hands, but because it is the responsibility of the Director of Ceremonies both inside and outside Mr. Quan!"
Eunuch Qin pretended to be impatient and said: "If I don't discuss with you the duties of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, don't you also listen to the Queen's orders?
Your Majesty’s instructions just now are very clear, and the two matters of the palace coup and the attack are left to Dongchang to be responsible for investigation! Is the Imperial Majesty’s decree not as good as the death dogma of the Supervisor of Ceremonies?”
Zhang Zuo responded: "It is really unjustifiable for the Queen to deprive the Supervisor of Ceremonies of her powers without any reason, or I would like to ask the Queen to give a convincing reason."
Eunuch Qin glanced at Queen Fang secretly, and then continued to argue with Zhang Zuo: "In my opinion, you and I should not make things difficult for the empress!
These two things can be dealt with by you and my family! You are responsible for continuing to investigate the palace incident, and if the attack may involve outside the palace, let it be handled by Dongchang!"
Zhang Zuo was completely unwilling to compromise. These two matters were originally the responsibility of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, so why should he give half of them to Dongchang? You, Eunuch Qin, did a good job coaxing the Queen?
When the news spread, I thought he, the eunuch with the palm print, couldn't grasp the situation!
So Zhang Zuo replied: "This has never been the case. When will your Dongchang be able to ask and interfere in the affairs of the Supervisor of Ceremonies?
The Secretary of Ceremony will also be responsible for tracking down the cases of bombardment, so you don’t have to trouble your factory anymore!”
Eunuch Qin asked in a persuasive way: "Are you really unwilling to hand over the hammering to the Dongchang office?"
"I absolutely don't want to, unless I don't do the seal of the Supervisor of Ceremonies!" Zhang Zuo said firmly.
Although Zhang Zuo felt that his answer was correct, he still felt something strange.
Why did Eunuch Qin suddenly stop talking about the "Palace Incident" and only kept talking about "Strike"?
Could it be that Eunuch Qin had really received a large sum of benefits from the foreign minister Qin Dewei, so he had to come forward and rack his brains to fight for the right to dispose of the "strike"?
Then he saw the eunuch Qin abandoning Zhang Zuo and said to the queen: "So that the empress will know that Zhang Zuo refuses to hand over the "strike", and there must be something else inside.
In my opinion, Eunuch Zhang obviously has something up his sleeve, so he doesn’t feel comfortable letting outsiders deal with it!”
Zhang Zuo glanced at Eunuch Qin disdainfully. Is this "made out of nothing" or "unfounded"?
Are you holding on to the Ciqing Palace stile and hitting the eucalyptus just to frame me?
It's just that this false accusation method is too low-end, and it is based on nonsense without evidence, and it is impossible to achieve any results.
It doesn't even sound like a false accusation, but rather like a talkative woman in the countryside chewing her tongue.
Anyone with a little brain or political literacy will know that there will be no real results from this matter.
If you think about it, you will know that he, a eunuch who is the chief of etiquette and in charge of printing, has no motive to beat up and destroy the gate of Empress Dowager Zhang's Ciqing Palace?
No evidence is needed at all, it makes no sense logically!
When Eunuch Zhang was thinking about what he should do next, he suddenly heard Queen Fang replying to Eunuch Qin: "That makes sense! Some people are blocking Dongchang's investigation, which is very suspicious!"
Zhang Zuo: "..."
No way? Queen, you actually believe it? Do you believe whatever Eunuch Qin says? Have you been bewitched by Eunuch Qin?
Regarding trusting Eunuch Qin, Queen, do you have a reasonable motive and logic?
Eunuch Qin was overjoyed. He guessed and bet correctly! Queen Fang really had the idea of "catching a thief if he calls for it"!
On this issue, Eunuch Qin is a bystander, while Zhang Zuo is a fan of the authorities. He has not yet realized that he is about to be punished because he has made Empress Fang dissatisfied.
What does "the thief shouts to catch the thief"? To put it simply, he just wants to see if he can pass the blame to Zhang Zuo!
Eunuch Qin's "false accusation" against Zhang Zuo catered to Empress Fang's psychology.
At the same time, Eunuch Qin deliberately framed Zhang Zuo in a clumsy way, which was also a test to see if Queen Fang would respond.
If Empress Fang faced such a clumsy slander and could still respond head-on with her nose pinched, it would be tantamount to encouraging the slander in disguise.
From another perspective, if someone is willing to frame Zhang Zuo, Empress Fang would of course be extremely happy.
She intentionally responded positively to Eunuch Qin, which meant that the two of them had a tacit understanding and a tacit understanding of the secret code.
Only Zhang Zuo laughed angrily, feeling that he had been humiliated, "What does hitting the sills of Ciqing Palace have to do with me? What are the benefits if I do it?"
Eunuch Qin quickly added: "In the palace, according to etiquette, the eunuchs who serve the emperor are the most senior, followed by those who serve the queen mother.
Although the Empress Dowager Zhang did not care about foreign affairs and had no influence in the palace at that time, the rank of internal eunuch serving the Empress Dowager was still there!
Just ask any official from outside the DPRK and you will know that such a high-level job with few tasks and small responsibilities has always been the best position to arrange the transition of one's own people or to get through seniority and rank!
You, Zhang Zuo, are the eunuch in charge of the ceremony and have many disciples and grandchildren. Doesn’t it mean that the Empress Dowager Ciqing Palace doesn’t have any of your disciples?”
Zhang Zuo couldn't answer this question, mainly because he couldn't give an answer that was beneficial to himself.
What Eunuch Qin said was indeed correct. Although Ciqing Palace was turned into a cold palace at the beginning, no matter how depressed the Queen Mother was, her character level was still there, and so were the eunuchs around her.
He Zhang Zuo will definitely arrange for a few of his own people to go to Ciqing Palace to make a transition. After they come out, they can go to some yamen to work as young prisoners. This is what it should be!
Eunuch Qin didn't expect Zhang Zuo to answer anything. Anyway, there should be records. Once he checked, he would know whether they were there or not, so for now, he should just pretend that they were.
Then Eunuch Qin said with bloodshed: "So, among the people who participated in the abuse of Queen Mother Zhang, there must be your disciples and disciples of Zhang Zuo!
Among the people who are afraid of Queen Mother Zhang’s revenge, there must be your disciples and disciples of Zhang Zuo! Then among the people who went to make trouble in Ciqing Palace, your disciples and descendants are probably indispensable! Even if your disciples and disciples did not participate, in the end they also benefited!"
Zhang Zuo: "..."
After that, the Qin eunuch said aggressively: "Now do you dare to say that the beating of the eucalyptus on the Ciqing Palace stile has nothing to do with you?
Do you still dare to say that you did not benefit from the attack on Ciqing Palace? Don’t those disciples and disciples have any interest in you? "
Zhang Zuozhen couldn't stand listening anymore and refuted: "These are all specious and random conjectures of yours. They are all arrogant and forceful!"
Eunuch Qin did not continue to point his finger at Maimang. He changed his tone and said seriously: "Of course, you can't be blamed for this. As the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, your cause and effect are inextricably linked and involved in all aspects.
So it is difficult for you to be truly selfless, this is an objective fact.
But if you think about it from the Queen’s point of view, can she completely trust you to track down the conspirators in the palace? Can she believe that you are completely unbiased?"
Without giving Zhang Zuo much chance to think, Eunuch Qin added: "If you continue to persist, then you really have something wrong with you!
When word of the matter spread, everyone else only knew that you went so far as to contradict the Empress repeatedly just for the sake of knocking off a truss in Ciqing Palace!"
Zhang Zuo said unhappily: "If you don't believe me, you can appoint someone else!"
Eunuch Qin then said: "So it is better to leave the eucalyptus beating on Ciqing Palace to Dongchang!
Don't worry, I just accepted Qin Dewei's favor, so I just want to help Queen Mother Zhang vent her anger, I have no other intentions."
Zhang Zuo snorted coldly and said with a very sober look: "You are just looking for an excuse to fight for power!"
But he still felt that he couldn't stay here any longer, so he turned around and left. He didn't refute anything else, which was regarded as acquiescence.
Queen Fang, who didn't speak for a long time, watched Zhang Zuo leave, and then asked Eunuch Qin: "How do you plan to track down the eucalyptus in Ciqing Palace?"
Eunuch Qin asked: "What other instructions does the empress have?"
Empress Fang said casually: "There is a eunuch named Chen Hong next to me, please ask him to help you investigate."
Eunuch Qin knew that he could not refuse, otherwise he would destroy the trust he had initially established, so he nodded and said, "Thank you for sending me your right-hand man."
If my guess is correct, this Chen Hong might be doing the dirty work secretly.
Then Eunuch Qin said: "It doesn't matter how to trace it, what matters is the result.
I believe that the result must be related to Zhang Zuo, and it can only be related to Zhang Zuo!"
The relief given to Zhang Zuo just now was just a delaying tactic.
Queen Fang was not surprised by this answer. Falling out and being ruthless was the norm in the palace, and people had to adapt to the environment.
But Queen Fang didn't want to talk about the investigation anymore, so she asked again:
"I noticed that you seem to be a little anxious? Don't you think it's too urgent to face Zhang Zuo today?"
Eunuch Qin sighed: "I have no choice. I don't have much time left, so I have to take risks."
In two or three days, Qin Dewei will set off.
Queen Fang asked very sensitively: "When is the time running out?"
Eunuch Qin explained: "The eunuch profession has always been about the weak and the strong. Now Dongchang and I are in trouble. Our influence and power have declined sharply. I'm afraid we will easily suffer backlash.
So, I don’t have much time left for me! I hope the empress will take more care of me in the future!”