Chapter 109: A House Full of Dukes and Lords (Part 1)
The people who attended the Jian Xinzhai outing party during the day were all children around ten years old. Even if their identities attracted a little more attention, the impact would be limited. The court officials would not take it too seriously, nor would the Dongchang directly under the emperor.
Care too much.
But in the afternoon, Cheng Guo Gong Zhu Xizhong suddenly sent out a batch of invitations, inviting a group of distinguished officials in Beijing to come to his home to enjoy plum blossoms, which had to attract the attention of Dongchang. It was normal for Jinyiwei not to respond. After all, now
The Commander-in-Chief in Jinyi is Zhu Xizhong’s younger brother Zhu Xixiao.
Feng Bao, the ceremonial supervisor, eunuch Bingbi and admiral of Dongchang, had already left Dong'anmen and rushed to the Dongchang Yamen south of Yanxi Temple to listen to the reports of his subordinates.
There is a south-facing gate in the East Factory. The gate is closed all year round to add a mysterious and terrifying atmosphere. The real gate is on the southwest side for people to enter and exit. Inside this gate is the main hall, and there is a small hall on the left side of the hall, which contains
There is a portrait of Yue Fei. There is a brick screen wall behind the hall. There are carvings on the wall such as Suan Ni and other animals and the story of Di Renjie breaking a tiger. There is an ancestral hall in the west of the hall, which enshrines the names of the eunuchs who were in charge of Dongchang in past dynasties. There is a stone square in front of the temple.
On the forehead are engraved the words "Eternal Fragrance". A little to the south is a prison, specially used to collect felons.
Historically, in the early years of Wanli, Feng Bao, as Zhang Juzheng's ally in the palace, was the governor of Dongchang. His authority was extremely powerful, so he built another Dongchang Yamen, called the internal office, and used the original Dongchang as the external office.
At that time, there was a horizontal plaque in the center of the internal affairs department with the four words "Confidant of the Imperial Court" written on it. The pride revealed in these four words was beyond words. However, it was still the year of Longqing, and Feng Bao's status had not yet reached that level, so Dong Dong
There is no distinction between inside and outside the factory yet, and he is coming to the East Factory's only official office at this moment.
"Factory Supervisor, the reason why Duke Chengguo hosted the banquet for all the distinguished ministers was that he had just recovered from a long illness. It happened that there were two plum blossoms in the garden, so he was in a good mood... I also heard that the Beijing camp was restructured recently, and many generals in the capital were uneasy.
I would like to come forward and summon all the nobles to come to the house to comfort and appease you." A leader said cautiously.
"Do you believe this?" Feng Bao glanced at him coldly and said expressionlessly: "This is not what this governor wants to hear."
The leader was speechless for a moment, and another leader next to him hurriedly said: "The Governor, please calm down. I just reported it as a rule, and I didn't really believe it... The banquet hosted by Duke Chengguo was just before the Governor arrived.
The junior officers and others have discussed and analyzed it for a while and believe that there are roughly two possibilities."
Feng Bao held his air, took a tea cup and took a sip, and then said: "Since I was the admiral of Dongchang, I have never seen you do anything good. Since you have already discussed this matter, then
Let’s talk and listen.”
The leaders present all cursed in their hearts: Our Dongchang has a bad reputation. The more famous things we do, the more infamy we get. The late emperor refused to reuse eunuchs, so we can only hold back. Now it’s another one.
Lord of mercy and mercy, if we stir up trouble, I'm afraid the first one who can't afford it will be you, Governor Feng, right?
According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, there is one admiral eunuch in the East Factory, commonly known as the admiral of the East Factory, the factory master, the governor, the factory owner, etc. There are more than 40 people in charge, foremen, and housekeepers, and twelve groups of managers.
Zichou is arranged in Yin and Mao, and each is responsible for the work. There are more than a hundred people in total, and there are more than a thousand subordinates under them.
On the gate of the Admiral Dongchang is engraved "Imperial Envoy Governor Dongchang Official School Office Eunuch Guanfang", which has more "imperial envoy" than other official offices. Since he has the status of the emperor's imperial envoy, everything he does represents the emperor, so naturally
No one would dare to disobey him. In addition, a sealing seal with the four characters "Dongchang Seal" was engraved on it was specially used to seal the information submitted.
Since there are so many spies, big and small, they must be used to spy on intelligence. The targets of spying include everyone except the emperor. Collecting intelligence is called "fighting incidents". The content of the incidents involves many things.
It ranges from homicides to lightning strikes, fires, and even the price of firewood, rice, oil, and salt. It can be said that all the actions and speeches of officials, soldiers, and civilians in the world are theoretically under investigation.
If all the incidents were called like this, although there are drawbacks, it is ultimately due to the understanding of the situation. Even if the officials and the people are controlled by the spies, it is caused by the imperial autocratic regime and cannot be blamed on others. But the fact is far from this. Those Dongchang fans
Soldiers often do not fight crimes themselves, but spend money to buy things from local gangsters. What can local gangsters not do for money? They use anger and false accusations to lure people into committing crimes, and they make things out of thin air. As a result, many unjust cases occur, and the officials and the people are deeply troubled.
suffered from it.
The purpose of establishing the Dongchang spy agency was originally to detect rebellion, rebellion and the so-called "treacherous parties", that is, to deal with political opposition. Because of this, in the Ming Dynasty, no matter whether it was a tyrant or a benevolent tyrant,
Regardless of the Ming emperor, no one has thought about abolishing the Dongchang since it was established. However, some emperors thought that this matter was not disgraceful and would cover it up and restrict it a little. If they encountered the activities of a tyrannical and mediocre king, the spies
They will become more unscrupulous in their indulgence, and the Dongchang at this time will become a tool for the authoritarian eunuchs to eradicate dissidents, and a slaughterhouse to display their lustful power.
Emperor Jiajing had good political skills and didn't care much about face, so he didn't rely much on eunuchs. Emperor Longqing happened to have Gao Gong, a teacher who was sympathetic to father and son.
Naturally, Bao and Dongchang had little room for improvement. At this time, the people of Dongchang certainly did not dare to be rash, let alone act arrogantly. In fact, this was also the reason why Feng Bao tried every means to pass on the imperial edict falsely when Longqing died.
An important reason to mix into "care of fate".
But they would never dare to slander Feng Bao and let them compete with Feng Bao.
The first person to speak replied: "The factory supervisor, the humble official, and others thought that Duke Cheng Guo convened a night banquet with all the nobles. The above reasons are not necessarily false, but they are certainly not the main reason."
Feng Bao closed his eyes and said "hmm" indifferently as a response.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Na Hongtou continued: "Bi Gong and others analyzed the two final possible reasons. The first is that the matter of the restructuring of the Beijing camp has reached a critical moment, and Duke Cheng Guo
We need to reach a consensus with all the important nobles; the second thing is related to the fact that this morning, Prince Gao Pragmatic invited the direct descendants of the noble families to have a spring outing, but there is no way to know the specific connection."
Feng Bao suddenly opened his eyes, waved his hand and said: "The cabinet and the Ministry of War are still in a stalemate regarding the Beijing camp. Duke Cheng has always been a very tolerant person. He will not stand up to oppose a major policy that is about to become final, whether it is Zhao Ge
Whether the old man wins or whether Huo Benbing wins, he will only tell the minister that everything will be done as ordered. Especially now that Mr. Zhao Ge’s side is in the upper hand, in order to avoid suspicion, he will not insist on having the military ministers be in sole control - didn’t he already fight with the British last time?
Has Mr. Gong resigned?"
All the supervisors expressed their opinions one after another: "The factory supervisor has great views", "The factory supervisor has clear vision for thousands of miles" and so on.
Feng Bao added: "Originally, the most suspicious thing is that the relationship between civil servants and military generals is too close. Although Gao Pragmatic was appointed as an official without any scientific examination, and he was just a low-ranking and unqualified official, in the end he was not a good official.
With the title of Hanlin Academy, he is also a civil servant after all. He travels with nobles and nobles, why don't you keep a close eye on him?"
"This..." The crowd looked confused.
Feng Bao sneered and said: "We know that it's just Zhu Xixiao, the Jinyi Commander, who makes you feel bad for going too far, right? But don't forget, our Dongchang originally had to monitor the Jinyiwei, even if there are many people in the factory
——Many of you, including you, are from Jinyiwei, but you can’t forget your own errands because of this! Otherwise, if something goes wrong, don’t blame our family for being unkind.”
What can the leaders say? It's not just submissive, it means they dare not forget their duties.
Feng Bao changed the topic and added: "Of course, our family is not unreasonable. The people Gao Pragmatic invited are juniors and young. It is understandable that you ignore them for a while. But!"
His tone suddenly became stern, and he said slowly but extremely oppressively: "From today on, we can no longer be careless towards these people!"
