Autumn is here, and the autumn mood in the capital always makes people feel warm and shrinking.
The autumn of the fourth year of Zhengde was a harvest season. The farmers in the fields also showed smiles. Although the taxes from the court were increasing, their lives were always going well.
The rebels in Shandong, Henan and other places can't bring trouble to the emperor. Those who kill pigs can marinate the meat for the winter; those who get engaged, by this time next year, they may be able to marry a fat boy.
The gentry congratulated each other, and as soon as the autumn grain came in, they could plan for promotions and salary increases. If there were any violations of laws and disciplines, they would also have extra money to avoid losing their own face.
Outside the North Central Gate of the Imperial City, Liu Jin passed by a plasterer who was building a wall and stopped involuntarily. It seemed that in the middle-aged man with a hunched back and wrinkles on his face, he saw himself from thirty years ago.
.
At that time, he had just entered the palace, and he spent the whole day either sweeping the floor or building walls and mud. Although his hometown, Xingping, had produced many celebrities, such as Li Guang and Ma Chao, it did not bring Liu Jin any fame.
Any good luck.
When he was less than five years old, he became a eunuch. Later, he became a disciple of an old eunuch named Liu, worked as a filial poop, a grandson, and a coward. After decades of suffering, he finally made it to the East Palace.
.
However, Liu Jin never thought that his history of blood and tears was anything worth remembering. His eyes were always fixed on the pinnacle of power of the Ming Empire.
Now he has done it and has become Duke Liu, who is inferior to one person and superior to ten thousand people.
No matter where he goes, there are dozens of eunuchs, both senior and junior, following him. He has hundreds of adopted sons and grandchildren, and thousands of ministers and generals under his command. There are even some party members,
Not only had he never seen it, he had never even heard of it.
Boss Liu never cared about Ming officials below the third rank. Occasionally he saw a name in a memorial, and he had to rely on Zhang Cai, the Minister of Personnel, to remind him whether he was a friend or an enemy.
The North Middle Gate is the shortcut to the Long Live Mountain. After passing the Long Live Mountain and the Long Live Gate, you will reach the Xuanwu Gate of the Forbidden City. Using mountains to suppress Xuanwu is the reason why Emperor Chengzu sent tens of thousands of people to build the Long Live Mountain when he was building the capital.
What is power? With just one order, tens of thousands of people can build a useless hill. This is power.
There is no distinction between good and bad power, nor between good and evil. Liu Jin has always believed that his power is earned through his own talent and hard work.
"Enxiang?" Zhang Cai, who was accompanying him, saw that Lao Liu was a little distracted, so he reminded him.
Zhang Cai is a handsome old guy who attaches great importance to friendship. If Jiao Fang and Liu Jin are still close allies, then Xiao Zhang even has a kind of family affection for Lao Liu, so he is neither called Eunuch Liu nor Governor Liu.
, but he was called Enxiang and took the glory of Liu Jin's "internal prime minister".
"I'm so old that I lose my mind while walking." Liu Jin smiled bitterly, looked away from the mud worker, and returned to the serious look of Mr. Liu.
Zhang Cai did not expose him, but just smiled gently and said: "Today, when discussing with the Holy One, we only need to stick to Chen Xiong and Tao Yan. If the Holy One refuses to give in, we might as well spare Chen Xiong, but Minister Tao
, must be removed.”
There was a trace of hesitation on Liu Jin's face. Zhu Shou's recent behavior has become more and more arbitrary and he is not as easy to fool as before. Zhang Cai's plan has a high chance of failure and is not worth his efforts.
Zhang Cai sighed and did not persuade him any more. He was loyal to Liu Jin, but Old Liu was wary of him. He checked the military fields and ceded Hejian and other places without consulting him before making the decision.
When there is a gap between people, it is like a knife on the body. The wound is healed, but the scar is still there.
Liu Jin was the established emperor in the court, but he was quite friendly in the imperial city. He would say hello to old eunuchs he saw he knew. If some powerless old eunuch came to ask for help, as long as he was an old man he knew, he would
Will do their best.
Different from the arrogant and indulgent Liu Jin described by civil servants, who killed countless people with his attacks, Liu Jin in real life never gave people the feeling of having his sword unsheathed.
At this point, Luo Xiang is most like him, so Zhu Shou is willing to hand over Donghai Company to Lao Luo.
In the eyes of many middle and low-level eunuchs, unlike Zhang Yong's domineering personality, Lao Liu has always been a gentle and respectable senior.
When passing the Duzhi Prison, a middle-aged eunuch saw Old Liu from a distance. He walked a few steps quickly, stood between Liu's entourage, kowtowed respectfully, and shouted: "Liu Cheng has seen his benefactor.
"
When Old Liu heard his name, he smiled and said, "Why did you change your surname to Liu?"
Liu Cheng replied: "My benefactor saved Cheng's life, and I would like to adopt him as his adopted son."
This Liu Cheng is the governor of the capital. He committed a crime a few days ago and should have been punished. When Boss Liu heard about this, he suddenly remembered that fifteen years ago, he had been punished by this little clerk.
With a little favor, he made a deal with some big eunuchs and saved Liu Cheng.
"You and I are old," said Mr. Liu, "there is no need to be polite."
Liu Cheng shook his head and said nothing. He just knelt and refused to get up.
Zhang Cai advised from the side: "Since Liu Qianshu is serious, he might as well accept his kindness."
Old Liu pondered for a moment, stepped forward, helped Liu Cheng up, and said with a smile: "You will come to my house tomorrow to salute."
Liu Cheng was overjoyed and kowtowed three more times. Then he got up and said in a low voice: "Father, I have a rare gift from the city."
When Lao Liu saw this, he asked disapprovingly: "What is it?"
Liu Cheng glanced at the entourage on his left and right. Zhang Cai immediately understood what he meant and ordered the eunuchs to step back dozens of steps.
"This is evidence that Zhang Yong, Ma Yongcheng, Gu Dayong, Qiu Ju, Wei Bin and others colluded with Yang Tinghe, Yang Yiqing and others!" Liu Cheng took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Liu Jin's hand.
Liu Jin frowned and did not pick it up, but just glanced at Zhang Cai.
Zhang Cai quickly took the letter and took a closer look, but it was written by Gu Dayong to Yang Tinghe. Apart from some trivial matters, the letter also said the words "Inside and outside should be coordinated, and the thieves should be eliminated." It turned out to be about cleaning up military fields.
Come and eradicate Liu Jin for the crime of civil unrest!
The people involved in the letter, in addition to the above-mentioned people, also include many ministers of the DPRK and China, who are either generals of the civil service group or senior members of the eunuch party who are not Liu Jin's clique.
Is the bloody battle in the first year of Zhengde about to happen again?
Zhang Cai's heart suddenly shook and he handed the letter to Lao Liu. The letter was indeed Gu Da's handwriting, and the secret sign used was also Lao Gu's unique signature.
There are never any secrets among the Eight Tigers. Everyone has lived together for decades and has already become familiar with the basics. Not only Zhang Cai can tell the authenticity of Gu Da's letter, but also Liu Jin after reading it
After that, my brows became more and more wrinkled.
"Where did it come from?" Liu Jin stared at Liu Cheng without blinking.
"Half an hour ago, seventeen eunuchs were killed, including Zhao Ting, Zhang Yuan, Liu Ben, Fang An, etc.," Liu Cheng said in a low voice, "I just grabbed this letter. Anyone who knows about it, including my people,
Inside, everything was disposed of, and the body was buried in a yard in Baodafang."
Liu Jin knew all the four people Liu Cheng mentioned, and they were all Gu Dayong's confidants!
This kid's hand was so cruel. Old Liu seemed to have gotten to know Liu Cheng again, and said to Zhang Cai with a smile: "Send someone to follow him and burn the yard."
The burning of the yard is false, but the verification of the corpses is true. If the bodies of those people are true, then this letter is also true.
After several confidant eunuchs and dozens of royal guards followed Liu Cheng to Baodafang, Liu Jin looked at Zhang Cai and asked, "What do you think?"
"After we are convinced, none of these people will be left alive." Zhang Cai stared at the backs of Liu Cheng and the others and said softly.
Liu Jin nodded: "I'll leave this matter to you."
"I just want to use Tao Yan's incident to test Li Binzhi. If he is involved," Zhang Cai took a breath of air and said in a deep voice, "The good minister must cut through the knot quickly and get rid of Yang Jiefu!"
"Why not Li Binzhi?" Liu Jin asked puzzledly.
"The guest is restrained, so there is no need to cause trouble!" Zhang Cai said decisively, "Jiefu has a kind face and a cruel heart, and is hypocritically benevolent and righteous. At the same time, he is the emperor's teacher. If we don't get rid of him, our kindness will be in danger!"
Zhang Cai's words were extremely polite, but his meaning was very clear: Liu Enxiang, you are a slave and Yang Tinghe is a master. If you two were to fight to the death, who would the emperor choose?
"I heard that you arrested Tao Yan and sent him to prison and fined him four hundred shi rice." When Zhu Shou saw Liu Jin, his first sentence was an unceremonious accusation.
There was an increasingly majestic air about the young emperor, which made Liu Jin afraid to look directly at him.
Sometimes, he couldn't even connect the young man in front of him with the crying baby. The emperor became more and more unfamiliar, and the extremely familiar relationship between the two seemed to be getting weaker and weaker.
Standing next to Zhu Shou were Gu Dayong and Wei Bin, both of whom were smiling. Especially Gu Dayong, who seemed not to know that seventeen of his confidants had been killed, and stared at Boss Liu with eyes full of schadenfreude.
After Zhang Yong left, the two men took up Admiral Zhang's permanent position. One was in charge of spies and the other was in charge of beauties. They were both indispensable ministers of the emperor.
As for Chen Jing and Su Jin, they were naturally standing aside, but their faces were expressionless and they could not tell what was going on.
"It is true that Tao Yan, the former right minister of the Ministry of Punishment, has proven his guilt and should be banished to three thousand miles as usual," Liu Jin replied respectfully, "but after the First World War in Yingzhou, Datong Prefecture was in short supply of military supplies, so the old slave ordered him to use silver
To expiate the crime..."
Zhu Shou threw a memorial in front of Liu Jin and asked: "The evidence of Tao Yan's crime is conclusive, what about Li Gao and Xu Qian?"
As soon as Liu Jin heard the names of these two people, he knew that the emperor had been led into a crossroads by Gu Dayong and others, so he replied: "Censor Li Gao is corrupt, perverts the law, and accepts bribes. The old slave has handed him over to the judicial office; as for the matter,
Xu Qian, the guerrilla general of Shaanxi Province, lost money to the air force and killed his soldiers. The old slave has ordered the Jinyi Guards to go and put him in prison until he is asked to kill him in the autumn."
Xu Qian is the younger brother of Cao Xiong, the right minister of the martial arts academy, and Cao Xiong is Liu Jin's ally, so Xu Qian can also be regarded as a member of the Liu family. Now he is thrown out by Liu as an abandoned pawn, which makes Zhu Shou unable to ask questions for a while.
responsibility.
"What about Chen Xiong?" After a moment, Zhu Shou asked.
"Pingjiang Bo Chen Xiong, when he was the governor of water transportation, he committed corruption and usurped the interests of the people," Liu Jin said in a deep voice, "Water transportation is the most critical place in the world, where the fate of the north and the south are at stake. Taizu ordered that if there is corruption,
Immediately behead him! If he is not beheaded, there is no way to impose strict orders on Taizu."
Everyone in the Ming Dynasty knew that Chong Bage's standard for killing people was cruel and ruthless. If Chong Bage's death was used as a trap, almost everyone in the Ming Dynasty could be killed.
So Zhu Shou smiled and said, "What does Li Shoufu mean?"
Li Dongyang stood aside and said nothing. He waited until the emperor spoke and then replied: "The Pingjiang line has the great contribution of opening up rivers. The founding father has a will to inscribe the iron certificate so that his descendants will avoid death. Although Chen Xiong's sin is unforgivable.
, but if all the military officials in the world look forward to it, how can it hurt people's hearts? Therefore, Chen Xiong should be tolerated, not because he is a bear, but actually because he is his ancestor Xuan'er!"
Hearing Li Dongyang's words, Liu Jin couldn't help but sigh secretly: Lao Li, are you really going to fight me to the death?
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In the name of Tanaka, who is going to kill everyone, I ask for your votes from all brothers.