Zhu Youxiao's order was conveyed as quickly as possible, and the commanders of Tengxiang's four guards immediately sealed the palace gate and sent heavy troops to the harem to guard various passages.
After receiving the emperor's order, Yang Huan quickly gathered hundreds of royal guards into the palace.
In the central square outside the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youxiao gathered all the eunuchs in the front palace. He was going to kill the chickens today to scare the monkeys.
The eunuch who had asked Hu Dawei for a bribe was now kneeling limply at the front. He had no idea that the matter would become such a big deal. At this moment, he almost regretted it.
Under the watchful eyes of hundreds of eunuchs, his hands were chopped off in public, and he rolled on the ground in pain.
The others were so frightened that they took a few steps back, and some timid young eunuchs repeatedly covered their eyes to prevent themselves from seeing this cruel scene.
The eunuch fainted quickly, but there was still blood from his wound.
A Jin Yiwei stood on the steps and shouted loudly:
"This audacious bitch failed to get a bribe today and dared to frame others and even bumped into His Majesty. You all saw it clearly and took it as a warning. But if anyone dares to offend again, it won't be as simple as chopping off both hands!"
At this moment in the palace, he was kneeling on the ground tremblingly. He had just heard the emperor's orders. He was extremely nervous now, and cold sweat was dripping from his forehead.
Although he was nervous, he still mustered up the courage to say:
"Long live my lord, I'm just a little eunuch, so there's no need to go into such a big fight!"
Indeed, this was just a trivial matter, and it was extremely normal for the eunuch to ask for money.
In the Ming Dynasty, not only the salaries of officials were low, but those who served the emperor in the palace were not much better. Every one of them was extremely poor. Eunuchs also loved money, so they naturally tried every means to make money.
In terms of money, the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty dared to challenge the emperor. They were all people who wanted money rather than their lives.
During the Wanli period, the emperor sent eunuchs from the palace to collect taxes across the country. Everything was going well, but unexpectedly, two eunuchs were beaten to death as soon as they arrived in Jiangnan. These eunuchs were frightened and all of them cried and howled. Don't dare to go.
The emperor had no choice but to agree to split the money with them. The price was initially set at 20-80, but the eunuchs didn't buy it at all and none of them were willing to go.
Emperor Wanli could only bear the pain and give them greater benefits, so he opened a head office with you Sanqi, right?
But the eunuchs still refused to do it, saying that it was life-threatening, which made Emperor Wanli so angry that he finally couldn't bear it anymore and scolded the eunuchs severely and forced them to collect money from him.
The final result is obvious. Let alone 70%, Emperor Wanli probably didn't even have 30%. Who are the eunuchs? They are greedy for money. Why don't they dare to do it for money?
Just like those gentry and civil servants, they are rotten at the root. You have to solve it from the root and completely change this atmosphere, instead of killing one today and two tomorrow, which is just in vain.
He can turn a blind eye when he reaches out to ask for money, but you have to be discerning, right? Who dares to reach out for money? Dare to ask for any money?
If he didn't punish them severely, they would only get more and more aggressive. Emperor Wanli's methods were not ruthless enough, so he would be angry for the rest of his life.
Emperor Wanli was not only angry with the civil servants, he was also angry with the eunuchs.
Although the eunuchs were born dependent on the imperial power and everything they had came from the emperor, this did not affect their competition for interests with the emperor at all.
It's just that this is an internal matter of the palace and unknown to outsiders. History books will not record such trivial matters.
For example, Wei Zhongxian, who is nine thousand years old, was not completely loyal to Emperor Tianqi, otherwise he would not have harmed Emperor Tianqi's concubines with the Hakka family, both internally and externally.
Relying on Emperor Tianqi's favor, the Hakka family could do whatever she wanted in the palace. The concubines in the palaces did not dare to provoke her, and even the queen in the middle palace could not do anything to him and could only endure it.
I'm afraid this is why Zhang Yan tried her best to persuade Emperor Tianqi to pass the throne to Zhu Youjian. She probably had enough.
Of course, there are other reasons. Zhang Yan and Zhu Youjian are the same. They both hate the so-called eunuch party and prefer the side of civil servants.
Emperor Tianqi knew this, so he didn't attach much importance to doting on her. Even when Zhang Yan had a miscarriage, he simply investigated it and settled the matter hastily.
After Zhu Youjian ascended the throne, the first thing he did was to eradicate Wei Zhongxian, and Queen Tianqi also contributed to this.
Although the eunuchs were the emperor's domestic slaves, this did not mean how loyal they were. The main reason was fear. They did so because of their rights, not because of individuals.
When Zhang Juzheng was in power, wasn't Feng Bao, the eunuch who held the seal, just one of Zhang Juzheng's dogs?
Emperor Wanli was scared to death of him. Even after Zhang Juzheng died, he still did not dare to punish Feng Bao. He waited until he died before confiscating his family and exterminating his family.
When Feng Bao took control of the palace, he frequently persecuted the young Emperor Wanli.
After Zhang Juzheng died, the civil servants fought back vigorously and asked the emperor to take down Zhang Juzheng and his party. However, Emperor Wanli did not act rashly because after Zhang Juzheng died, there was still someone he was deeply afraid of, and this person was Feng Bao.
The civil servants saw the emperor's worries, so they also mobilized the eunuchs in the palace to cooperate with them and directly advised the emperor to remove Feng Bao.
Their aggressiveness finally made Emperor Wanli reveal his true thoughts.
"What should I say if my companion comes? What if he doesn't want to?"
This sentence can be said to completely express the deep fear of Emperor Wanli. Yes, he was afraid of his own slaves and the eunuch his father selected for him to assist him.
The majestic Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the lord of the world, is just like child's play. He can step on him even if he is a toy. If he continues like this, he will be gone without waiting for Jiannu and Li Zicheng.
If it were not for institutional reasons, the harm caused by these eunuchs would not be worse than that of the Han and Tang Dynasties, because the power in their hands is no less powerful than that of the eunuchs of the Han and Tang Dynasties.
He would not let it go like Emperor Wanli, and he would never be able to nourish their desires.
This is also the reason why he is so grand today. If there is one, there are two. The old events of Wanli Year must not be repeated. Today, I will remind them of this matter first and let them keep their eyes open and see clearly.
"Then in your opinion, what should I do?"
Zhu Youxiao stared at him and said.
"I don't dare, I don't dare! I don't dare!"
Although today's incident has nothing to do with Wang Chaofu, Zhu Youxiao still won't give him a good look. Although Wei Zhongxian is the eunuch Bingbi, the matters in the front palace are all under his control.
"My slave knows my sin, my slave knows my sin!"
Wang Chaofu kowtowed repeatedly.
Seeing the man who had grown up with him kneeling on the ground begging for mercy, Zhu Youxiao felt no emotion at all, because he knew a truth.
If you are soft-hearted, you cannot be the emperor!