Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2338: Visiting Nanjing (V)

Tian Yi looked at Gao Youshi's departing back, his smile quickly faded, and a trace of deep thought flashed in his eyes. This Yuanfu Jingguogong was not only a man of both civil and military talents, but also extremely powerful. But the more important thing was that this gentleman was obviously young and successful, and his official career was extremely smooth, but he never showed any arrogance. On the contrary, the more famous he was, the more he humbled himself and kept a low profile.

Tian Yi also worked his way up from the inner court. You have to know that the eunuch who guarded Nanjing was the first person to be sent out to the inner court. How could he do that without some ability? It was just that he was sent out to other places for too long, so he had limited opportunities to directly contact Gao Youshi and lacked direct understanding of this most important official of the Wanli period. However, his many years of experience were no joke, and he knew very well how terrible people like Gao Youshi were.

The Duke of Jingguo had something to say just now, and he seemed to have realized the deep meaning of his words, but when he was interrupted rudely, he not only did not show any anger, but also did not ask any further questions. Just based on this self-restraint and shrewdness, this Duke of Jingguo made people admire him sincerely.

People with little influence don't get angry easily, because they know they don't have the capital to get angry. But for someone of Gao Youshi's status, he could remain calm in the face of the rudeness of a "eunuch", and even smiled and said goodbye when they left. That was very rare. According to Tian Yi's understanding, this not only meant that Gao Youshi was very cunning, but also that he was extremely confident.

He is shrewd and therefore can be magnanimous and tolerant; he is extremely confident and therefore can remain calm and composed.

From this perspective, the reason why this Duke Jingguo can achieve what he has today is not just because of the influence of his ancestors, nor because of his good military skills, nor because of the emperor’s favor alone. He truly has all the prerequisites to accomplish great things!

If that's the case, maybe he can really stir up the stagnant water of Nanjing, and then make it clear and clean? If that's the case, we are already this old anyway, so even if we are willing to sacrifice our lives, what's wrong with helping him?

Here we need to briefly introduce the eunuch Tian Yi, the garrison eunuch of Nanjing. He entered the palace at the age of nine and began his palace career. During the Longqing period, Tian Yi was appointed as the head of the Six Departments under the eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, managing internal and external memorials and internal official archives. After Zhu Yijun ascended the throne, he found that Tian Yi was loyal and capable, and promoted him to the position of manager of the Office of the Imperial Household Department the following year as a candidate for the eunuch of the Imperial Household Department.

At this time, Tian Yi was responsible for keeping memorials and conveying the emperor's will. Later, he was promoted to the eunuch of the Internal Affairs Bureau for his ability to supervise the court's construction projects and the selection of officials by the Ministry of Personnel. In the tenth year of Wanli, Tian Yi was ordered to escort Huai Yong, the lieutenant of the Qin Mansion Yongshou Palace, to Fengyang to perform an important escort mission, and began his life of exile.

In the 11th year of the Wanli reign, Tian Yi was appointed as the eunuch of the imperial commissioner to guard the Huguang region. In the 14th year of the Wanli reign, he was transferred to the deputy eunuch of Nanjing garrison. In the 17th year of the Wanli reign, he was promoted to the eunuch of the imperial commissioner to guard Nanjing and was in charge of the seal of the Nanjing Ceremony Bureau. Together with the Nanjing Minister of War and the Nanjing Garrison Honorary Official, he has controlled the military and political power of Nanjing to this day.

  In fact, it can be seen from here that Zhu Yijun is indeed a person who does not like to transfer his capable subordinates casually. There are certain rules for the transfer of civil officials and military generals, and sometimes it is necessary to transfer them, but the transfer of internal officials to guard the outside world is a matter that the emperor decides at his own will, and he showed it very clearly - Tian Yi has been the eunuch garrisoning Nanjing since the 17th year of Wanli, and it has been 13 years now!

You should know that the eunuchs garrisoning Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty played a very important role in the political and military system of the Ming Dynasty. Their importance was mainly reflected in the direct management and control of Nanjing and its surrounding areas.

The Nanjing garrison eunuchs were not only an agency dispatched by the imperial palace to monitor all local officials below the provincial level, but also actually exercised substantial ruling power in Nanjing.

The duties of this position included maintaining the tranquility of the capital, supervising the imperial city and the Xiaoling Mausoleum, and contributing Nanjing's unique products to the emperor in Beijing. Although Nanjing's status declined after Emperor Yongle moved the capital to Beijing and was only used as a capital, its status was still above that of other provinces, and the power of the eunuchs guarding Nanjing was further strengthened.

They not only managed the 24 offices of the Nanjing inner court and the Nanjing army, but also became "local emperors" in the Forbidden City of Nanjing without an emperor, managing all the affairs of Nanjing. In addition, the Nanjing garrison eunuchs were also responsible for protecting the Xiaoling Mausoleum of Emperor Taizu and even the Fengyang Ancestral Mausoleum, as well as managing the criminal royal family imprisoned in the high walls of Fengyang, which shows how important their status was. And Tian Yi actually held such an important position for thirteen years in a row.

Of course, on the other hand, this also means that Tian Yi's abilities are highly valued by the emperor.

Gao Youshi also knew this, but he had not had much contact with Tian Yi in the past - firstly because Nanjing was not his key business area, and secondly because as an important official in the central government, it was inconvenient for him to get too close to the eunuchs to avoid misunderstandings from the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

From this contact just now, Gao Youshi could naturally feel that Tian Yi seemed to be deliberately "tease" him. Now as he walked out of the Qianqing Palace, he couldn't help but ponder Tian Yi's words over and over again in his heart.

Tian Yi, as the eunuch guarding Nanjing, had a prominent position, and the key point was that he must have an extraordinary understanding of the Nanjing officialdom. His words just now seemed to imply the complexity and volatility of the Nanjing officialdom, as well as the possible undercurrents.

Gao Youshi knew very well that although Nanjing, as the capital of the Ming Dynasty, had a lower political status than Beijing, it had always been the focus of competition among various forces due to its unique political status.

In the official circles of Nanjing, there are both the deep-rooted power of the School of Mind and the tentacles of the School of Practical Learning that have quietly extended their influence in recent years, not to mention the unparalleled influence of the founding nobles. Various forces are intertwined in the capital of Nanjing, forming an intricate network of relationships.

The emperor's southern tour was nominally just to pay homage to the Xiaoling Mausoleum, but now it seems that it may have a deeper meaning of rectifying the Nanjing officialdom. Gao Youshi was aware that as the chief minister of the cabinet, he had the important task of assisting the emperor, and he had to act prudently in this regard, both to maintain the emperor's authority and to balance the forces of all parties to ensure the stability of the government.

In fact, from Gao Youshi's perspective, with Zhu Yijun's current prestige, his imperial power is probably incomparable even to that of Emperor Jiajing. After all, Jiajing relied on political schemes to rule his people, while Zhu Yijun relied on his literary and military achievements over the years. No matter whether all these achievements were won by Gao Youshi or not, Zhu Yijun, as an emperor, was always a man of good judgment and leadership, and no one can deny this.

Under such circumstances, when Zhu Yijun came to the capital, no one in Nanjing dared to disobey the emperor's will. However, not daring to disobey the emperor's will does not mean not daring to obey in public but disobey in private. At this time, the emperor, as a real powerful dragon, could indeed suppress any local snake, but the problem was that everyone knew that this powerful dragon could not stay here for long, and he would eventually return to Beijing soon.

Therefore, as the local tyrants in Nanjing, as long as they lie dormant for a while under the oppression of the powerful dragon and wait for the powerful dragon to return to the capital, Nanjing will still be the Nanjing of the local tyrants.

Gao Fusi felt that Shen Yiguan's confidence tonight probably came from this - my home advantage is big enough. Although it is unrealistic to fight against the emperor, how long can the emperor stay in Nanjing? Once the emperor leaves, can you, Gao Fusi, still stay here? After you all leave, Nanjing will still be Nanjing. However, Shen Yiguan's confidence is easy to analyze, but the question now is what does Tian Yi mean by "teasing" just now?

Is it a provocation? It doesn't seem like it.

If the eunuchs in charge of Nanjing wanted to do their job well, they naturally had to have good relations with the Nanjing officials and the nobles. Otherwise, they would not be able to accomplish anything, and even make mistakes in everything they did. It was impossible for them to stay here for 13 years. However, it was unlikely that the eunuchs in charge of Nanjing were completely in collusion with the Nanjing officials and the nobles. Otherwise, every time they reported that Nanjing was prosperous and the officials and nobles were loyal and diligent, the emperor would know that something was wrong after a little thought - I sent you to Nanjing to supervise the local area, but you said that everything was going well in Nanjing and there was no problem at all. Do you think I am an idiot?

Following this line of thought, Gao Youshi was sure that Tian Yi must know a lot of the real situation in Nanjing, but he just needed to judge whether it was necessary to report these situations.

Whether to report, how much to report, when to report, and how to report are all things that need to be weighed and considered.

Gao Youshi felt that from Tian Yi's attitude just now, he might just want to show up here first to hint that he knew some inside information about Nanjing. But when he wanted to ask a question, Tian Yi interrupted and changed the subject, which showed that he did not intend to "surrender" directly, but seemed to want to make a gesture...

Gao Shishi is very familiar with this kind of behavior, because it is too common in official circles. Generally speaking, if the other party behaves like this, then it is likely that the other party is willing to cooperate with him, but he needs to wait for the price, so he only reveals it a little to show his importance, and then waits for him to take the initiative to find him to "quote".

To be honest, Gao Youshi is not disgusted by this. Cooperation is a kind of business, and business is an exchange. You put forward your conditions and I put forward my requirements. If both parties can accept it, then this business is worth doing.

Of course, this is just a simple description. For a deal to be done, both parties must go through a bargaining process, and this process can be long or short. Sometimes the negotiations take a long time to reach an agreement, and sometimes they hit it off immediately.

The situation facing Gao Youshi was quite clear. As an "old Nanjing man" who had served as the eunuch garrisoning Nanjing for 13 years, Tian Yi was likely to have a lot of inside information. In fact, because of his high position, the inside information he knew was very likely to be very core. In other words, Tian Yi's "capital" was strong enough.

Since the other party has strong capital, if he wants to make this deal he must offer a generous return. However, it is not convenient for Gao Youshi now.

Gao Fusi knew very well that he had just been promoted to Duke of the State, and he was the only civil official Duke of the State after Li Shanchang, which was a great success. He didn't know how many pairs of jealous eyes were staring at him. At this time, his best course of action was to become a little transparent and fade out of everyone's sight as much as possible, at least until the limelight had passed.

However, this was difficult in itself, because he was not just a nominal duke, but a duke with real power, holding both the position of Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance. In this situation, how could he fade out of everyone's sight?

If Tian Yi was to be rewarded for providing the inside information about Nanjing, things would become even more difficult. Because Tian Yi was not an official of the outer court, as the Prime Minister, he could not give him any benefits within the outer court political system. If he wanted to give him any benefits, it could only be given by the inner court.

The nominal "top leader" of the inner court was naturally Chen Ju, and Chen Ju was his old ally for many years, so it was not difficult to ask him to help Tian Yi. But the problem was that the reason why Chen Ju, the "inner minister", could stay in office for twenty years was because he was obedient enough - he listened to the emperor. In essence, the real top leader of the inner court was actually the emperor.

The emperor's authority in the inner court was undoubtedly much higher than his authority in the outer court. This does not need much explanation. The civil and military officials in the outer court were the emperor's subjects, while the eunuchs in the inner court were the emperor's servants.

  Ministers have "bargaining power" in front of the emperor, more or less, but domestic slaves have no bargaining power at all in front of their masters - you are the emperor's property, so what price can you negotiate?

This is like some high-ranking officials in Beijing who followed Gao Yuan on the Western Expedition. Once they made a mistake, Gao Youshi would simply issue an order to call them back to the capital to reflect on their mistakes. As long as Gao Youshi did not ask them to defend themselves, they would not even dare to argue.

Why? Because they were servants of the Gao family, and they were his servants. Even their lives belonged to Gao Guoshi. Even if Gao Guoshi killed them directly, they would not have to go to the Xinzheng County Office to hand over two cows or a corresponding fine. No matter how high their status in Beijing was at this time, the result would be the same.

And this case is about Gao Youshi killing his own servants. What if it was the emperor who killed his eunuchs and slaves? He wouldn't even have to hand over the cows - nonsense, who would he hand over to?

  The emperor's killing of eunuchs is different from killing ministers. He can indeed kill ministers, but there will be backlash. Killing eunuchs is different. There is no backlash at all. In fact, most of the time, the outer court will applaud and praise the emperor for doing a good job. [Jiajing: Do you want to think about it again? I was almost strangled to death by a group of palace maids...]

In short, although Chen Ju seemed to have the final say in the inner court, it was actually the emperor who had the final say. Even if Chen Ju could influence the emperor to a great extent, or the emperor would not usually refuse Chen Ju's face for some unimportant matters, Tian Yi was already the eunuch garrisoning Nanjing. If he wanted to be rewarded, he could only be transferred back to the Beijing Silijian. Normally, as long as this was a promotion rather than a lateral transfer, Tian Yi should be made one of the eunuchs holding the pen.

  The eunuch holding the pen! If the eunuch holding the seal of the Silijian in the inner court can be compared to the chief minister of the outer court, then the eunuch holding the pen is equivalent to the cabinet minister, that is, a cabinet elder! Which emperor would not care about the arrangement of a cabinet elder position, and would agree without hesitation as long as the chief minister mentioned it?

To be honest, Gao Fusi did not dare to say that his influence on Zhu Yijun was so great. Perhaps only his third uncle's influence on the late emperor could be so great. After all, he, Gao Fusi, and Zhu Yijun were classmates, while his third uncle and the late emperor were teacher and student... and could even be compared to a father-son relationship. Could they be the same thing?

As for Chen Ju, although he was trusted by Zhu Yijun, I am afraid that his influence on Zhu Yijun was far less than that of me. At least if I had to recommend someone to be a cabinet minister, as long as this person was not too distasteful to Zhu Yijun and had sufficient qualifications, then even if Zhu Yijun did not like him very much, he might choose to give me face and agree to it because of my persistence. But Chen Ju... might not be able to do this.

Of course, the fact that Zhu Yijun allowed Tian Yi to serve as the eunuch garrisoning Nanjing for thirteen years shows that he still valued Tian Yi very much. If Chen Ju really recommended Tian Yi to be the eunuch in charge of writing, Zhu Yijun probably would not have any objection.

But... after all, this is a serious matter. If I ask Chen Ju to do such a big thing, not to mention how much favor I owe him, it will at least attract attention from both inside and outside the court. In the end, it will almost certainly be discovered by officials from the outer court, and then my wish to fade out of everyone's sight as much as possible during this period of time will be dashed.

Gao Youshi frowned more and more as he thought about it. When he returned to the west side hall of Chunhe Palace, he did not rest immediately. Instead, after thinking it over, he summoned several servants, gave each of them a short letter, and asked them to deliver it out of the palace.

He knew that in the days ahead, he would face some challenges he had never encountered before. Not only did he have to deal with the open and covert struggles of the Xinxue School officials such as Shen Yikuan, but he also had to deal with the relationship with the nobles in Nanjing, and he also had to find a way to exchange opinions with Chen Ju and Tian Yi without leaving any traces and negotiate the corresponding matters.

It was late at night, but the lights in Chunhe Palace were still on. Suddenly, there was another flash of lightning, a thunderbolt suddenly struck, and then a crackling rainstorm came inexplicably, as if it was a welcome ceremony for Gao Youshi's first arrival in Nanjing.