Although the lanterns at Taiye Pond outside Xihua Gate were already lit, the surroundings of the water viewing platform were still as bright as day.
Dozens of palace maids held colorful lanterns, and countless eunuchs and guards stood in groups. Queen Mother Zhang held her son's hand, stood on the water viewing platform, pointed to the lake in the distance, and asked softly: "Zhao'er, what does this lake look like in your eyes?"
, what does it look like?”
Zhu Shou looked at his mother in confusion and shook his head: "The sky was dark, and nothing could be seen beyond fifty steps. The water was still and quiet, as if there was nothing."
Empress Dowager Zhang then asked the British Duke Zhang Mao, who was on duty in the evening: "What do you think of it in the eyes of the Qing family?"
The palace guards of the Ming Dynasty were very strict. Those who served as the emperor's personal bodyguards included the Han generals of the imperial guards, the sword-bearing officers of the imperial army's avant-garde, the red-helmet generals, the Mingjia generals, the fork-knife fencers of the fifth military camp, the knight guards of the honorary guards, and the flag bearers.
etc., a total of about 8,300 people.
These people are led by six bodyguards. The bodyguards are all served by distinguished relatives such as dukes, marquises, uncles, and princes-in-law. The bodyguards in charge implement a shift system, one per day. The generals in charge of the Han Dynasty and the knife bearers are in charge every day.
Be on duty.
The British Duke Zhang Mao felt secretly in his heart that the Queen Mother's education of his son had nothing to do with me as a guard. However, the Queen Mother did not dare to disobey the decree, so he had to answer with a grimace: "At night, it is difficult for me to see things, and everything in the distance is blurry.
It’s completely dark.”
Empress Dowager Zhang asked Zhang Yong, who was at the side: "Where are you?"
Zhang Yong is a eunuch, and his relationship with the Queen Mother has become closer. The relationship between master and servant allows him to be less restrained. Hearing the words, he said seriously: "When I return to the Queen Mother, my servants are not very talented and have little knowledge. They only practice martial arts every day.
As a human being, I only know the basic truth. The whole world is covered by the mountains and rivers of the Ming Dynasty, so this lake will be what the Queen Mother says it looks like."
The eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty, those with integrity and official positions, called themselves junior ministers; those who liked to flatter horses called themselves old slaves; if they met a god like Admiral Zhang, the word "servant" would also come out of their mouths.
Empress Dowager Zhang smiled slightly and cursed: "Slippery old slave."
She then ordered Liu Jin to bring a basin of water. Eunuch Liu, who had frightened the people all over the world, immediately went away. Naturally, a group of eunuchs followed him to serve Mr. Liu.
After Boss Liu put down the basin with his skinny hands, Queen Mother Zhang pointed at the water in the basin and asked Zhu Shou: "Zhao'er, can you see the bottom of the basin?"
Zhu Shou nodded. He had no idea what his mother wanted to say, but watching her torment the British Duke, Boss Liu and Admiral Zhang felt that it was no small matter.
Empress Dowager Zhang smiled and said: "This is it. The water in the basin is clear enough to see the bottom; the water in the lake is deep and unpredictable. The heaven and earth are unkind, and the power of the emperor and the way of the tiger lie in this."
Seeing her son nodding his head in understanding, Queen Mother Zhang sighed inwardly, turned to look at Liu Jin, and shouted in a deep voice: "Kneel down."
Boss Liu quickly knelt down and hit the bluestone ground with his forehead three times. He did not dare to raise his head. The eunuchs behind him also knelt down on the ground.
Empress Dowager Zhang ignored Boss Liu and said to her son: "You used to be naughty and mother didn't bother to control you. In the Ming Dynasty, with these old slaves watching and the ministers watching, there won't be any trouble. What do you do?"
My mother won’t worry about what kind of emperor he is.” After a pause, he continued: “But now that you are changing the dynasty system arbitrarily, you want to be a promising king, so you can no longer act like you did in the past.
, this second level is to let you know what is the power of the emperor and the way of the tiger."
After finishing speaking, she looked at the top of Liu Jin's head and asked slowly: "Liu Jin, can you hear clearly what Ai Jia said?"
Sweat rolled down Liu Jin's face, and she knocked her head on the bluestone, making a thumping sound, and shouted back: "The Queen Mother is Shengming! The Queen Mother is Shengming!"
Queen Mother Zhang said: "Do you know the crime in Li Mengyang's case?"
Li Mengyang, also known as Tianci, was originally from Henan and was born in Gansu. He was one of the top seven literary sons of the Ming Dynasty. He was a Jinshi scholar in the sixth year of Hongzhi. He was considered a rare talent in the Ming Dynasty...
But we all know that few talented people in the Ming Dynasty were normal people. For example, as mentioned above, the various strange ways in which talented people died, Li Mengyang was not a normal person either.
This talented man, who was just the same as Prime Minister Li, had a very famous nickname in later generations, called "Zhongshan Wolf". This title was given to him by his good friend Kang Hai, the number one scholar in the fifteenth year of Hongzhi, and his praise has been passed down through the ages.
The style of selling friends to seek glory.
This matter is related to Liu Jin. Last month, Li Mengyang, who likes to seek fame and reputation, set his sights on Liu Jin after beating Zhu Shou's uncle and Empress Dowager Zhang's brother Zhang Heling a few years ago.
To be honest, this kid is very courageous, but his luck is not very good. Zhang Heling, a half-hearted nobleman, dare not offend the civil service group, but who is Boss Liu?
Boss Liu, who had long wanted to deal with Li Mengyang, seized the opportunity. Not only did he avenge Mr. Zhang, he also put Li Caizi in prison, preparing to execute him with black hands.
Li Mengyang panicked when he saw that the civil servants were unable to rescue him. He knew that Boss Liu was different from Mr. Zhang and was not easy to bully, so he cried and begged Kang Hai: "Dui Shan, save me, save me!"
Opposite Mountain is the name of Kang Hai. Kang Zhuangyuan was a very good friend. He and Boss Liu were from the same hometown, so he came to visit him and drank with him all night.
Lao Liu felt very honored. Although he was a eunuch, he was also a knowledgeable and talented eunuch. He had always admired the number one scholar from his hometown, like a surging river.
But Kang Hai neither scolded him nor criticized him. Anyway, he was wasting his time doing this. Kang Zhuangyuan knew very well that anyone who had anything to do with this fellow countryman would probably die badly.
But this time, for the sake of his good friend, Kang Zhuangyuan decided to feed the tiger with his own life, saying: "It's my sincerity. How can I not begrudge the evil people's opinions instead of avoiding the blame for a good friend!"
It means: Forget it, in order to save my gay friends, I will eunuch the party.
Mr. Liu was naturally very happy: Fellow fellow, I have been waiting for you for a long time, and my intestines have turned white from waiting.
So Kang Hai advised Boss Liu: "Old Liu, look, we have three great talents in Shaanxi. The first one is you; the second one is that ungrateful Li Mengyang; and the third one,
You can barely count me.
At that time, Shaanxi and Gansu both belonged to the Shaanxi Chief Envoy, so Li Mengyang could be regarded as a Shaanxi native.
Liu Lao was very happy when he heard this: Look, the top picks in our hometown all say that I am a talented man, which proves that some people still appreciate my Lao Liu's talent.
Kang Hai fooled Boss Liu again: Look, Gao Lishi, Eunuch Gao, was not afraid to take off Li Bai's shoes. Old Liu, Li Mengyang is a better poet than Li Bai. If you let him go, the common people will recite your poems a thousand years later.
Love the name of talent.
Boss Liu was absolutely convinced now: Although that bastard doesn't know what's right and dares to go against me, who calls him my fellow countryman? I'm a talent lover, forget it, let him get out, I don't want to see him
he.
Well, now, Li Mengyang was released, but Kang Hai became an eunuch and boarded Boss Liu's pirate ship. He owed Boss Liu a favor and it was not easy to get off the ship.
A few years later, Boss Liu was killed, and Li Mengyang actually classified Kang Hai as a general of the Liu Party, which ruined Kang Hai's political future. Therefore, he was called the "Zhongshan Wolf" by the world, imitating Mr. Dongguo's story and despising his behavior.
Kang Hai also lamented: "I have not planned to save this wolf in my life."
But this is a story for later, let’s leave it aside for now.
The case of this pair of good friends was handled by Boss Liu. Empress Dowager Zhang raised it at this time with only one purpose: to remind Liu Jin that you are just a eunuch, just be an eunuch honestly, don't think too high-spirited, be a person whose name will last forever.
eunuch.
Therefore, Boss Liu had no choice but to tap his forehead to bleed, and cried, "This old slave is guilty of death!"
Empress Dowager Zhang didn’t know that what Boss Liu had done had already left a name in history. Although it would be infamy for thousands of years, it was still better than the Diaosi people who had no name at all...
Seeing that Liu Jin's attitude was very sincere, she smiled slightly and said, "Since you have confessed your crime, you can go to the department and accept the fine of three thousand taels of silver and send it to the border."
Liu Jin's wealth ranked among the top three eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty for hundreds of years, and three thousand taels was just a drop in the bucket.
He was about to take the order and leave when he heard Empress Dowager Zhang say: "Zhao'er, Sun Cong, the Secretary of the Jin Rites Department, is the head of the Rituals and Regulations Department of the Jin Rites Department and the Purdue Officials Department. What do you think?"
Sun Cong is Liu Jin's sister-in-law. He is currently the Secretary-General of the Department of Rites from the ninth rank. He is a small official, but he is trusted by Liu Jin and is quite talented. Together with the dog-headed military advisor Zhang Wenmian, he is Liu Jin's close friend.
Hardcore.
The head of the Department of Ceremonies and Officials of the Ministry of Rites and Ceremonies is an official position of the sixth rank. He suddenly jumped from the ninth rank to the sixth rank, and from a low-level official to a middle-ranking official. It can be said that he has reached the sky in one step. It is still the Queen Mother's decree, and it can be said that he is full of favors.
After being slapped and given a candy, Mr. Liu had to kneel on the ground again and cried: "Thank you, Queen Mother, for your grace."
Empress Dowager Zhang herself had the power to carry out the decree, but she always paid attention to her tone in front of her son.
Zhu Shou would not object, "Everything is a favor of the king, and accompanying the king is like accompanying a tiger." He suddenly understood the purpose of the double act between Queen Mother Zhang and Boss Liu.
Boss Liu was not afraid. He understood the intention of the Queen Mother from the beginning. This old dog was cooperating with the Queen Mother. The purpose was to educate himself: This is the power of imperial power. Every word spoken by the emperor becomes a constitution.
Words, every word, even a look can determine a person's life, wealth and power, and even the fate of the Ming Dynasty.
Even Eunuch Liu, who was the "emperor" of the Ming Dynasty, and Boss Liu, who had many party members in the court, were vulnerable in front of the imperial power. He could be slapped in the face when he deserved it, whether he was dead or alive, it was just a word from the emperor's mouth.
That’s all.
Zhu Shou, who was born an otaku, had rarely experienced the power of imperial power so deeply even though he had been a confused emperor for almost a year.
Why did the emperor rarely speak? Why was the emperor called a mediocre person?
Just because every word he said had power that future generations of otakus could not imagine. The magnitude of this power shocked Zhu Shou.
It turns out that this is the emperor!
He finally understood the essence of "Heaven and Earth are not benevolent": the emperor is the one who speaks out and becomes the constitution, the unique heaven and earth of the Ming Dynasty, and the existence that ignores all things.
No! This method has a fatal flaw!
Seeing her son's expression of sudden realization, Queen Mother Zhang smiled happily. Her father-in-law was a confused emperor, and her husband was a rare good emperor, but their experiences were not suitable for Zhu Shou, because the characters of these three people were completely different.
different.
"So this third level," Empress Dowager Zhang said with a smile, "is power!"
Empress Dowager Zhang sharply pointed out the flaws that Zhu Shou believed in.
Yes, power, to become a being that can ignore all things, to become an emperor like Taizu and Chengzu, you must have the power to make the whole world irresistible.