Smuggling Daming

After receiving the gift of 10 taels of silver from Zhou Zhong, Gu Dayong no longer had any complaints about Zhou Zhong, and at the same time he looked up to Zhou Zhong even more. No wonder the other party was in charge of nearly half of the smuggling business along the southern coast at a young age. This generosity alone is not comparable to ordinary people.

Gu Dayong did not return directly to the palace in the carriage, but went to other places to do some errands, and when he returned to the palace after finishing the work, it was already dusk, and the gate of the palace was about to be closed. After entering the palace, he went directly back to rest in the courtyard where he lived in the Leopard House.

As one of the eunuchs with the highest status in the palace, Gu Dayong is relatively low-key. Many eunuchs like to buy yards and servants outside the palace after they have made their way in the palace, and even marry a few wives and concubines like ordinary people. It seems that doing so can let the eunuchs regain a little dignity as a man.However, Gu Dayong lived in the palace all the time, never bought a yard outside, let alone married a concubine. In addition, Emperor Zhengde often needed him to take care of him, so Gu Dayong had no time to leave.

The courtyard where Gu Dayong lived was not far from the bedroom of Emperor Zhengde. Although the courtyard was not big, it was very delicate. Besides Gu Dayong, there were several eunuchs serving him in this courtyard. , I also like to train those little eunuchs. If they behave well, they will even be sent to the inner school to study. In this way, when these little eunuchs grow up in the future, they will become Gu Dayong's good helpers.

Gu Dayong felt very tired after running outside the palace for a day, and planned to go back to the place where he lived to have a good rest, but unfortunately he just came back.The little eunuch who served him came to report: the eunuch Zhang Yong, the supervisor of ceremonies, came to visit.

Zhang Yong can be said to be proud of the spring breeze during this period. Since Liu Jin was killed with Yang Yiqing last time, his reputation has reached its peak. Not only the people have a high evaluation of him as an eunuch, but the court has also rewarded him a lot, such as his Because of his relationship, his elder brother and younger brother were named Tai'anbo and Andingbo respectively. He himself also received numerous rewards, especially taking over Liu Jin's seat.Became the eunuch of the chief inspector of ceremonies, and concurrently served as the eunuch of the imperial horse supervisor. Liu Jin can't compare to him.

However, although Zhang Yong has great power in his hands.But he is not as authoritative as Liu Jin, and he has been in charge of the Yumajian before, and has more dealings with warriors, and his personality has also been affected. He is not as cautious as ordinary eunuchs, and he is usually busy with government affairs.He will also delegate the power in his hands, unlike Liu Jin who handles all the big and small things with one hand.Moreover, Zhang Yong got along well with several ministers of the imperial court.The tacit cooperation between the inner court and the outer court brought a new trend to the Ming court, and the government orders were much more accessible.

However, although Zhang Yong is proud, he also has his own troubles. Although he is an eunuch, he is a different eunuch, and other eunuchs are very greedy for money.But Zhang Yong doesn't pay much attention to money, but Zhang Yong also has something he is greedy for.That is the name, he wants to be a eunuch with a long history, which is one of the reasons why he chose to kill Liu Jin before.

After Liu Jin's death, Zhang Yong no longer had any rivals in the inner court, and the ministers of the court respected him very much, but Zhang Yong had a bigger desire in his heart, that is, he wanted to be a eunuch If he can do this, then he will go further than his predecessors Zheng He and Liu Yongcheng, and become the first eunuch to be conferred in the history of Ming Dynasty.

Speaking of Zhang Yong's contribution is indeed not small, and he is familiar with martial arts. If he is not an eunuch, it is not impossible to be a marquis, but unfortunately he is an eunuch, a minister next to the emperor, so although he revealed to the cabinet I wanted to be a marquis, but the cabinet ministers thought it was not in accordance with the etiquette system, so I didn't pass it. This made Zhang Yong very disappointed, and at the same time, his confidence was greatly hit. During this time, he kept a low profile again .

Originally, Zhang Yong's mood had just turned better today, but unexpectedly, another trouble came to his door. In the morning, Gu Da used the people around him to tie up his adopted son Zhang Rui to the palace, saying that he would handle it by himself. .At the beginning, when Zhang Yong saw Zhang Rui's embarrassment with disheveled hair and red and swollen cheeks, he was also a little angry. After all, Zhang Rui was also his own person. Wang Gui, the little eunuch sent by him, told the story of the incident, and especially emphasized that it was Zhou Zhong who offended Zhang Rui, which made Zhang Yong calm down.

Speaking of Zhou Zhong, Zhang Yong naturally knew very well that the Journey to the West written by Zhou Chong was given to Zhengde through his hand.In addition, Zhang Yong also knew that His Majesty the Emperor attached great importance to Zhou Zhong, not only because he spared Wang Lun's crime, but also personally granted Zhou Zhong a marriage. This kind of favor even Zhang Yong was very envious of.

Another thing Zhang Yong couldn't understand was that His Majesty the Emperor didn't seem to have any contact with Zhou Zhong, and the two had never even met each other. He felt that there must be some secrets about Zhou Zhong that he didn't know, and besides His Majesty the Emperor, this secret was probably only known to a few people such as Gu Dayong and Qian Ning.

Everyone in the world knows that there are eight most favored and trusted eunuchs around Emperor Zhengde, which are also known as the Eight Tigers.However, the relationship between the Eight Tigers and Emperor Zhengde is also very close. Don't look at Liu Jin and Zhang Yong who were in charge of the Rites and Supervisors successively. They hold great power in their hands and are also deeply trusted by Emperor Zhengde. The closest eunuch to Emperor Zhengde, only Gu Dayong knew many secrets of Emperor Zhengde, which Zhang Yong and Liu Jin could not compare with him.

It is precisely because of this that when Zhang Yong learned that Zhang Rui had offended Zhou Zhong, his heart sank. At that moment, he had someone beat Zhang Rui hard in front of the little eunuch Wang Gui, and temporarily imprisoned him. After Gu Dayong returned to the palace, he immediately came to visit and wanted to inquire about Zhou Zhong from Gu Dayong.

Gu Dayong was not too surprised by Zhang Yong's visit. He also came out to greet him in person. After the two sat down in the living room and let the left and right back down, Zhang Yong said impatiently: "Eunuch Gu, this kid Zhang Rui has no eyesight, he offended someone who shouldn't be offended, but Zhang sees that he is really talented, so he can't bear to be punished too severely. I don't know what you think, Eunuch Gu?"

Zhang Yong's character is more like a straight-forward martial artist, he will say what he has to say, and generally he doesn't like to go round and round, so he goes straight to the point when he comes up.

Gu Dayong has long been familiar with Zhang Yong's straightforward temper, but he did not answer Zhang Yong's question directly, but said with a smile: "Eunuch Zhang, don't worry, it's just time for dinner, I've been running outside all day. , I’m already hungry, why don’t I ask someone to prepare appetizers, let’s chat while eating, since His Majesty ascended the throne, the two of us haven’t sat down to drink together for many years.”

Hearing Gu Dayong's words, Zhang Yong was also a little helpless, but the guest is free to do as he pleases, and he has something to ask for, so he can only let Zhang Yong arrange it. Cup, couldn't help but said again: "Eunuch Gu, can you tell me clearly, what is the origin of that Young Master Zhou, and why His Majesty values ​​it so much?"

Hearing this, Zhang Yong put down his wine glass and shook his head, and said with a faint smile: "Mr. Zhang, originally I wouldn't hide ordinary things from you based on the friendship we have known for many years, but regarding Mr. Zhou's matter, But I absolutely cannot tell anyone, and I also advise you not to inquire about Mr. Zhou in private, otherwise the consequences may be very serious!"

"Serious? How serious?" Zhang Yong couldn't help being a little angry when he heard that Gu Dayong was unwilling to say anything, and he didn't even ask himself to inquire. After all, with his current status, Zhang Yong didn't believe that anything was wrong. He can't know.

Seeing Zhang Yong's expression of disbelief, Gu Da slowly took a mouthful of vegetables into his mouth, and suddenly a strange smile appeared on his fat face: "It doesn't matter if Eunuch Zhang doesn't believe me, but Liu You should also know about Jin. He was originally ordered by His Majesty to seize power with those ministers Xie Qian. Later, His Majesty handed over the government affairs to him. In all fairness, although Liu Jin was a bit arrogant and domineering, he also reformed some government affairs. Therefore, in the end, His Majesty didn't want to punish Liu Jin so quickly, nor did he want to kill him, but Liu Jin himself did something wrong!"

Hearing Gu Dayong suddenly mentioned Liu Jin, Zhang Yong was still puzzled at the beginning, but when he heard the end, he couldn't help showing a horrified expression on his face, and at the same time he said in surprise: "So that's the case, could it be... Could it be..."

Before Zhang Yong could say what he said later, Gu Dayong smiled strangely again and said: "Eunuch Zhang guessed right, Liu Jin would not fall so quickly, and even His Majesty might spare his life in the end, but he just Send people to investigate Young Master Zhou, and even want to send people to arrest Young Master Zhou, so Liu Jin fell ahead of time, and he couldn't even save his life!"

"Boom~" Zhang Yong felt as if a thunder had struck in his head, and he just stayed there motionless. When he joined hands with Yang Yiqing to get rid of Liu Jin, he had indeed received Emperor Zhengde's instruction, but he didn't expect that It turned out that Liu Jin's death had such a tortuous inside story.

But when Zhang Yong woke up from the shock, he was even more curious about Zhou Zhong's identity. Who was Zhou Zhong who could make His Majesty the Emperor even change his plan to get rid of Liu Jin for him? (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)