Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 108
In a side hall of Qianqing Palace, several copper basins placed at the four corners exude cool air. The ice cubes in the basins are melting little by little, and the temperature in the hall is comfortable and pleasant.

Chongzhen sat on the dragon chair and was listening to the report on the rectification of the harem by the eunuch Wang Dehua, the eunuch in charge of the ceremonial supervisor. Wang Chengen was still standing by his side.
The former emperor was inexplicably furious after disposing of Shanxi merchants. Wang Dehua was smashed in the head with a teacup by the emperor; Shang colluded with the Xuanfu army to let the traffic slavery go, and was implicated in the wanton bribery.

Jin Yiwei seized Du Xun's mansion and property outside the palace, and obtained a total of more than [-] taels of silver and two houses.

Under the persecution of the emperor, Wang Zhixin personally imprisoned Du Xun and killed him.Afterwards, Wang Zhixin wisely chose to donate money to beg for work, reluctantly donated most of the family property accumulated over the years, and used 20 taels of silver to obtain the imperial order to go to Tianjin for the elderly, which can be regarded as giving up money to save his life.

Wang Dehua has been with Chongzhen since he was in Xin Wang Qian's residence, knowing that although the owner is impatient, he has always been extremely tolerant to those who serve him, and he has never seen the emperor get so angry.

The terrified Wang Dehua feared to follow in Wang Zhixin's footsteps. He was only in his 50s, and he didn't want to return to his hometown early to retire. He immediately led people to conduct a comprehensive screening of all the eunuchs and maids in the harem.

Wang Dehua arranged for his cronies to threaten in the palace that anyone who reported suspicious persons would be rewarded with 50 taels of silver, and those who did not report would be immediately executed with a stick;

This move really worked, and then there were maids and servants who came to report suspicious people and things.In the palace of tens of thousands of eunuchs and court ladies, it is too difficult to keep secrets.

After verification, there were 28 eunuchs and maids inside and outside Jiaotong.Most of them are to disclose the privacy of the emperor, empress, prince, princess, and noble concubine to someone in exchange for money.Most of these people were able to get close to the empress or people close to her, and then leaked their knowledge to the outside of the palace.

There is no small matter in the Tian family.Don't look at what they spread outside the palace is the emperor and the empress playing chess today, the empress and the imperial concubine disagree, the emperor was angry because of a governor's memorial, the prince was punished by the emperor for reciting the Analects of Confucius and so on. Different conclusions can be drawn, and the emperor's purpose and preferences can be roughly judged.

During the investigation, a eunuch from the Shangshan Supervisor and the Imperial Supervisor suddenly committed suicide.One was poisoned and the other was hanged. The cause of death is unknown.

The Shangshan supervisor who died of poisoning was a director who was in charge of purchasing ingredients and eating them in the palace.He entered the palace in his teens and was in the Shangshan prison for more than [-] years.On weekdays, he is reticent and rarely interacts with others.After searching his bedroom, a pack of arsenic was found under the bed, a courtyard outside the palace, and more than [-] taels of silver were found in the cellar of the courtyard.The servants in the house are all from the capital and are employed by him.Because he rarely left the palace, the servants knew little about this master.

The prisoner who hanged himself was a Dian Bu, who was usually kind and popular, but he committed suicide suddenly for some reason.This Mingdian also has a small house in the capital. There is only one old servant in the house, who is also hired by him. He is responsible for guarding the gate and cleaning the courtyard on weekdays, and knows nothing about the daily behavior of his master.

When Wang Dehua heard that someone committed suicide, he immediately thought of what the emperor said when he was angry, and couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat.These two people must have ulterior motives and have ulterior motives.Especially Shang Shan Supervisor, his position is too important.If he has any unruly intentions, it will be a catastrophe.

But the two died immediately, and everything could not be traced. The two had no good friends in the palace.

The director of the Shangshan Supervisor has always been a loner, and he is honest with others, and everyone does not like to deal with him.

Although the eunuch surnamed Liu, the imperial supervisor, is very popular, he doesn't have close friends with others. Everyone's evaluation of him is: he is a good person.

Although some of these 20 people surrendered themselves, Wang Dehua still ordered all of them to be killed with sticks, and named all the supervisors of the palace where they lived to watch their punishment.Seeing the former colleagues who were beaten into a pile of rotten meat, all the maids and handymen were terrified. There were not a few people who were scared to diaper their pants, passed out, and vomited. Most of them had nightmares at night.

Chongzhen was quite satisfied with Wang Dehua's treatment.After this purification operation, the palace should be safer, and the safety of the family members will be more guaranteed.

The two eunuchs who committed suicide just let him go.Chongzhen didn't think there was a secret organization that wanted to harm the royal family. To put it bluntly, these people were motivated by personal interests. He attacked Emperor Zhengde and his brother Tianqi, but he wanted to beat Wang Dehua and others to let them understand I am not blind and deaf, everything is under my control.

Chongzhen looked at the sweaty Wang Dehua, and said, "Things are doing well. You are an old man in my hidden mansion, and now you are an inner minister. You must understand who gave you today's glory and wealth! As long as my Zhu family is here , you will be safe and prosperous! If the Great Ming Dynasty changes hands, what will happen to you is self-evident! In the future, you must work hard and don't violate taboos! Otherwise, I will never forgive you lightly!"

"This old slave understands! The royal family is the family and support of this old slave! Those foreign ministers will never be trusted! Don't worry, the emperor, the old slave will teach the palace like an iron bucket in the future, and the emperor's family can rest assured!" Wang Dehua quickly ensure.

At this time, a small inner eunuch came to the hall, knelt down and kowtowed and said: "My lord, the empress sent her servants to report, saying that she will invite the lord to have a meal at noon!"

Chongzhen recognized him as the servant of Kunning Palace, so he said with a smile: "Go back and tell the queen, I will go in a while!"

The little inner supervisor kowtowed and got up to leave.

Chongzhen said: "I should not only listen to his words, but also watch his actions! Go!"

After Wang Dehua kowtowed, he bowed and walked out of the hall.

Chongzhen said to Wang Cheng'en beside him: "Big companion, I want to reopen the East Police Force Factory, and I want to appoint you as an admiral. After you think it over, I will let Luo Yangxing cooperate with you in recruiting manpower."

After Wang Chengen heard the words, he was both happy and worried: after the admiral Dongchang, he will be the second person in the supervisor of ceremonies.According to what he knew about the secrets of the palace, the admiral and eunuch of Dongchang had great power, all civil and military officials, and all the people in the world were under his surveillance, including Jin Yiwei, who was also under his surveillance.The admiral eunuch only needs to be responsible to the emperor alone, and no one else has the right to appoint him.

He said reluctantly: "Your Majesty, you can let this old slave do anything. But the East Factory is outside the Forbidden City, and this old slave has to leave your side after receiving an errand. This old slave is not willing! If this old slave Now that you're gone, who will take care of you?"

Chongzhen laughed and said: "People in the world are all for fame and fortune. When others hear such a good thing, they are immediately overjoyed, thinking about how to use power for their own benefit! You are better, thinking about who will serve me after leaving! Dongchang has too much power, if it is held in the hands of Liu Jin, Wei Zhongxian and others, it will be too much! You are the person I trust the most, and Dongchang is entrusted to you, as if I were here in person!"

Wang Cheng'en wept and said: "This old slave said something rebellious! In the heart of this old slave, the emperor is just like this old slave's younger brother! Once he leaves, this old slave really does not want to give up! This old slave is not a person who is greedy for power. Let me open the factory, and when the emperor finds a loyal and reliable person, the old slave will hand it over to him, and return to the emperor to serve you!"

Chongzhen stood up and walked towards the back of the palace with his hands behind his back, and said as he walked, "I'll follow you! I can't bear to be with you too! Li Erxi will follow me for now, and your nephew Wang Shiqin will be in charge of thousands of households!"

Wang Chengen hurriedly followed, and the two left the back door of Qianqing Palace and went straight to Kunning Palace behind.

　It's too difficult to write, and I'm not good at harem battles.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)