On the way to Zhengyangmen, Xiao Jing kept looking for topics, which was a bit similar to Shen Xitao, which made Shen Xi feel flattered!

After all, Xiao Jing's current identity is like an "internal minister", on the surface, the cabinet has the most power, but in fact, the vote made by the cabinet minister, if it is not approved by the celebrant eunuch, it will be beaten back again and again to redraft, and the celebrant is the final decision-making place, and the power of the eunuch in his palm can be known. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Xiao Jing said: "Lord Shen, you have really worked hard to lead the troops on this expedition, no one expected that you were not stumped by the Tatars in a small castle like Tumubao that had been abandoned for many years, but won victories again and again, and beat out the spirit of our Ming Dynasty." ”

"Especially when he returned to the capital Qinwang, he knocked out the courage of the Tatars in just two battles, and the Tatars could only flee in despair, thanks to Lord Shen's command, and the soldiers of the three armies used their lives! Lord Shen is serious and strategic, and his achievements are high, which is almost comparable to the general of the founding of this dynasty......"

The general of the conquest refers to Xu Da, the king of Zhongshan, which is very praised, but it is a pity that this kind of compliment has been heard by Shen Xi no less than ten times since he returned to the capital, and he is not interested in it at all.

But any normal person, after knowing Shen Xi's meritorious deeds, will do his best to compliment and stammer, at first it feels fresh, but after a long time, it will be boring. But stretching out his hand not to hit the smiling person, with Xiao Jing's current identity and status, he said that these Shen Xi can only be obediently received, and he has to express his gratitude again and again.

At this time, the doubts in Shen Xi's heart deepened, why did the imperial court suddenly hold such a ceremony to sacrifice prisoners, and he had been waiting for the cabinet to come, even if Liu Jian and Li Dongyang did not come, Xie Qian should have come forward, but the cabinet princes never showed up, and Xiao Jing did not say a word about it.

Shen Xi thought to himself: "The emperor has always trusted the three auxiliary ministers of the cabinet the most, in the past, this kind of thing, including the imperial court's sacrifice of prisoners after the first war in Hami in the northwest, was arranged by the cabinet, why did the emperor let Xiao Jing, the eunuch who basically does not walk around, preside over it?" ”

"Could it be that this is a weather vane that the imperial court's policy has changed, which means that the emperor's attitude towards the three scholars in the cabinet has changed?"

Xiao Jing saw that Shen Xi's enthusiasm for chatting was not high, so he couldn't help but find another conversation, and asked with a smile: "Lord Shen, I don't know what year you were born?" ”

Shen Xi replied respectfully: "I was born in Xia Chenghua for twenty-three years!" ”

Xiao Jing pinched his fingers and said in surprise: "Ah, Lord Shen, that year was Ding Weinian, it turns out that you belong to the sheep!" This genus is good, really good...... To tell you the truth, our family is also a sheep, and you are forty-eight years old. No wonder Lord Shen can be invincible in the imperial examination and the court! ”

Shen Xi felt more and more weird!

Shen Xi had heard Xie Qian introduce that Xiao Jing was a horse, forty-nine years older than him, so it was necessary to change even the zodiac year in order to get close?

Xiao Jing asked again: "Lord Shen, what relatives do you have in the court?" ”

Shen Xi thought about it, he was born in a poor family, how could he have relatives in the court? If you want to say that the only relative, it may be Zhang Yuan in the palace, but that is not in the court, but in the palace.

Thinking that Xiao Jing was testing himself and wanted to get to the bottom of it, Shen Xi remained silent, shook his head slightly, and said: "I have been a governor of the lower ancestors, and in the next few generations, the family has fallen into the middle, but there are always people in the family who have come out to run for the imperial examination, and after a few years of hard work, this is only three yuan and the first, and entered the Hanlin Academy as an errand ......."

Xiao Jing let out an "oh" and was silent for a while, as if he was calculating, and finally he smiled and said, "Elder Xie Ge should be regarded as Lord Shen's in-laws, right?" ”

Shen Xi nodded.

Xie Qian's marriage of his little granddaughter to Shen Xi as a concubine is not a secret in the court at all, and many people even use this matter to make fun of Xie Qian and lose Xie Qian's face.

Of course, Shen Xi will not deny what everyone knows.

Xiao Jing said: "Lord Shen is like this, he does not rely on the shadow and connections of the court, but relies on his own ability, and in just a few years, he has become one of the famous ministers in the court, which really makes our family admire." In the future, Your Majesty has a place to drive, and Lord Shen must do his best, not run wild...... In the end, the emperor's grace is vast! ”

"In which dynasty and which generation, who dares to be so young to Lord Shen and vigorously promote and reuse? Only His Majesty today is the king of wisdom and talent! ”

Shen Xi thought to himself: "Xiao Jing has been talking for a long time, the most important thing is the last sentence, right?" Beat around the bush, and talked to me about relatives, and those who don't know thought you were going to win me over as your godson! ”

Eunuchs recognize godsons and godsons, which are common throughout the Ming Dynasty.

Eunuchs can admire the face of the emperor, although the official quality may not be high, but because of the emperor's trust, their status in the court is not low, because the eunuchs have no heirs, they like to find some undesirable talents in the court to accept them as their righteous sons, and they also give these righteous sons political convenience, which is considered mutual benefit.

Even a eunuch like Xiao Jing, who seems to be loyal and honest and does not like to compete with others for power and profit, also accepted three righteous sons in the court, and also promoted the righteous sons.

In these years, the eunuch also pays attention to the comparison of the righteous son, and the more righteous sons, the more optimistic the future of the eunuch is. And people who like to cling to the internal officials, which eunuch to recognize as their father-in-law is also a kind of political investment, it all depends on the level of vision, if you can find the eunuch leader who can be in charge of the future alone, then the soaring prosperity is just around the corner.

A person of Shen Xi's status naturally would not recognize a eunuch as his father-in-law, even if he was a "prime minister" like Xiao Jing. However, Xiao Jing didn't dare to let Shen Xi surrender at all, so this kind of conversation was more about saying good things for the emperor and making Shen Xi loyal to the emperor.

The group went to Zhengyangmen, and on the way, Shen Xi found that in the short journey from Zhengyangmen to Daming Gate, the officers and soldiers had lined up neatly and sealed the road to prevent anyone from coming out to interfere with the ceremony of presenting prisoners.

Today, however, martial law seems to have loosened in the capital, and many people have poured out of their homes, but they can only stand on the side of the street, or on the upper floors on both sides of the street.

The people were curious and wanted to know what the court was going to do.

Shen Xi thought to himself: "This is about a signal released by the imperial court, the emperor wants to re-establish his prestige, then this prisoner sacrifice ceremony must be very grand, and there will be many people who sing praises for the emperor...... Isn't this a sign that the emperor is doing something to the cabinet? ”

With Shen Xi's wisdom, he could naturally detect the wind and grass in the middle of the court.

After Shen Xi returned to the capital, he found that the administrative and military power of the cabinet scholars, especially Liu Jian, the first assistant, had reached the point of monopolizing power.

Shen Xi knew that this situation was related to the emperor's illness, but Shen Xi also knew that the emperor had appointed Zhu Houzhao as the prisoner, under what circumstances did the emperor need to push the young Zhu Houzhao out as a prisoner? Obviously, the emperor used Zhu Houzhao to balance the meaning of cabinet power.

But the cabinet did not give face to the emperor and the prince, Liu Jian still went his own way, and all the powers of the prince were hollowed out, and all the decrees of the defense of the capital came from the cabinet and came from Liu Jian.

If the emperor is seriously ill, even if the emperor knows, he can only turn a blind eye, but now that the emperor has signs of recovery, and at the same time intends to cultivate Zhu Houzhao into a qualified prince, it is inevitable to suppress the monopoly of power in the cabinet.

Shen Xi guessed that this should be the main reason why the emperor only sent Xiao Jing to preside over today, and let the officials of the six ministries participate instead of letting the cabinet scholars participate in the ceremony of sacrificing prisoners.

In front of Zhengyang Gate, the city gate has not yet been opened, but I see that the city is dark, and there are people and craftsmen repairing the city head.

Shen Xi knew that this was related to a fire that day, and the initiator of this fire was Wang Shouren, who was standing at the back of the team.

Xiao Jing walked over and said to Shen Xi: "Shen Zhongcheng, you are the governor of Yansui ordered by His Majesty, and the soldiers and horses entering the city have been invincible under your command. ”

Shen Xi looked at Xiao Jing curiously, his face full of puzzlement: Shouldn't you be the one who presided over today's ceremony? When is my turn?