Li Mi has not been in the capital for a day or two, and he has long been familiar with the rhythm of life here.

According to the daily life, the Shenwu Gate set up a bell and drum tower, which was taken care of by Luan Yiwei, and there would be a doctor of Qin Tianjian on duty every day, and Qin Tianjian instructed a change point, and the bell rang one hundred and eight rings after dusk.

This bell is to tell the people in the city that the day is over, it is time to enter the night, and after the bell is struck, the drum is beaten, and the drum is the starting point of the timing, and after the drum is beaten, it is time to get up.

At every watch, the bell tower would beat bells and drums, and the watchman would march through the streets to beat the bangs and tell the people what time it was, and at dawn the next day, they would ring the bells and drums to announce the dawn.

Because it is related to people's work and rest, and it is also the basis for the palace ban switch, whether it is the Qin Tianjian or the bell and drum tower of Shenwumen, they are extremely regular and dare not make mistakes.

Therefore, the use of bells and drums as the basis for judgment can be regarded as more rigorous.

As soon as Li Mi reminded him, Zhu Changluo and the other three could actually imagine that someone should have maliciously framed Zhu Youxiao!

Because the time of a drum is not long, and the interval is not long, in such a short time, if you want to see the time to set fire, it can only be said that it was premeditated, otherwise it will be too late in time.

They need to prepare things that start fire, and they need to monitor the activities of Zhu Youxiao and others at all times, so that they can succeed!

What's more, they had to avoid the forbidden guards on the Zhengyang Gate, which meant that this group of people was extremely familiar with the rotation and parade times of the forbidden army, and these schedules were not known to everyone!

In this way, the range is much narrower in an instant!

"Which shift was on duty the day before yesterday, has anyone been in contact with the rotation, can His Royal Highness the Crown Prince investigate clearly?"

When Li Mi said this, the meaning couldn't be clearer, Zhu Changluo was also full of joy, and said to Li Mi: "I'll check!" ”

Zhu Changluo walked outside the door, beckoned, and the guards of the East Palace came over, took the order, and even if he rushed out, he would come back to report to Zhu Changluo after a short time.

"Back to His Royal Highness, that day was on duty in the Holy Class, the head of the team was Xie Bilu, the winter official of the Qintianjian side was Su Xiu, the winter official was Gu Changgeng, the missing doctor Zhang Zhengquan, the winter official was Liu Zongbing, and the twelve supervisors were ......"

Before the guard finished speaking, Zhu Changluo was already a little puzzled, interrupted and asked, "Isn't Qin Tianjian the only one on duty on weekdays?" Why are there four or five people in one place now? ”

The guard immediately replied: "The emperor received the recital of Lord Xu Guangqi and asked the Italia and Francois to proofread the calendar, so when the people of Qin Tianjian need to come to the right place, they will record it every day, and they can do a comparison in the future......"

When Zhu Changluo heard this, he also suddenly realized, but Li Mi already knew about it, Xu Guangqi and Matteo Ricci introduced the Western calendar, which is not a new thing, and it is worth Li Mi's attention that who are the twelve prisoners!

"First of all, tell me who among the twelve prisons knows the hours of duty."

In Li Mi's view, other people's suspicions are not without suspicion, but in terms of motives, they are not the first place to consider.

After experiencing the Fuwang Palace Change, the forbidden army has been purged by Zhu Yijun, and no one will commit crimes against the wind, so the team leader and the like can be temporarily excluded, and Qin Tianjian is a sesame mung bean official of eight grades and nine grades, and Zhu Youxiao is not a person who is arrogant and domineering, let alone has a bad record, so these people in Qin Tianjian do not have too obvious motives.

And although Zheng Guifei is no longer in the palace, she doesn't know her life and death, the emperor doesn't mention it, and others don't dare to ask, but in addition to Zheng Guifei and King Fu, there are many concubines and princes in the palace, etc., not that once Zheng Guifei goes, the entire harem will be too peaceful.

Although the harem is indeed much quieter than before, if you talk about the starting motives, the suspicion of the harem is definitely greater than that of the forbidden army and Qin Tianjian.

And the people of the harem can't do it themselves, they can only instruct the eunuchs of the twelve eunuchs to do things, so it is not surprising that Li Mi pays special attention to the identity of the eunuchs.

The guard saw that Li Mi's expression was serious, and he didn't dare to slack off, so he immediately replied: "Yes, it's Chen Ju, the chief eunuch of the inner factory, and Chen's husband ......."

"Chen Ju?"

Li Mi couldn't help frowning, because Chen Ju was in person with Concubine Li Jing, and had served Concubine Li Jing in Changchun Palace earlier.

Concubine Li Jing is Zhu Yijun's favorite concubine in addition to Concubine Zheng Guifei, and in the early years, she gave birth to Zhu Yijun's seventh son Zhu Changying, which is also thanks to Li Mi for saving the lives of her mother and son, and this seventh prince is even more precious.

Zhu Changying has grown up now, and he is also playing around, although he is about the same age as Zhu Youxiao, but he is one level worse in terms of generation, besides, Zhu Changying has been canonized as a king, and his status is different, so he can't play anywhere.

Zhu Yijun's love for Zhu Changying is also obvious to all, Zhu Yijun would rather love Zhu Youxiao, his grandson, than look at Zhu Changluo squarely, it is difficult to guarantee that people will not have thoughts of inconsistencies.

Without the threat of King Fu, Zhu Changluo, the crown prince, sat steadily, after all, he had been in charge of the country for so long, how should he be on the right track, and he was very familiar with government affairs, so it should be ironclad.

It is said that the Seventh Prince Zhu Changying has no chance.

But what if it wasn't the Seven Princes who fought for it, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince himself lost his morality? Will His Majesty the Emperor push the Seventh Prince into the East Palace?

Li Jingfei and Zhu Changying may not have this idea, but it's hard to guarantee that others won't have it!

Chen Ju's qualifications in the palace are not as good as Tian Yi and Wang An, although he is the governor of the inner factory, but everyone knows that more than half of the inner factory is actually Li Mi's, and Chen Ju, the overseer of the inner factory, cannot be compared with Wang An, the superintendent of the East Factory.

In terms of strength, he can't compare to Wang An, in terms of holy grace, he can't compare to Tian Yi, who has a lifelong friendship with Zhu Yijun, once the emperor dies, Chen Ju estimates that he won't get anything!

But if the crown prince loses his morality and is deposed, the seventh prince Zhu Changying ascends to the throne, and the servant is noble, and Chen Ju's status will not be the same!

Of course, this is only one of the possibilities, Li Mi would rather believe in Chen Ju's character, and believe in the character of Li Jingfei and Zhu Changying.

But since we've come to this point, how can we not check it out?

Because of the fire in Zhengyangmen, martial law in the palace has long been under martial law, and now it is night, but there is no way to find Chen Ju, everyone can only go back separately, and after a night, Zhu Changluo has long been unable to sit still, and he came to the Twelve Prison Yamen with Li Mi and others in the morning.

When the prince came to the door, the eunuchs didn't dare to hold it up, so they immediately went to find Chen Ju to come over, although Chen Ju was also favored, but in front of the prince was a slave in the end, and after kneeling down and saluting, he honestly explained the matter.

"It was indeed a slave and maid on duty that day, but it was ...... It's just that the slave and maid have something to do temporarily, and they are not on duty, but they are looking for someone to replace them for a while......"

"Looking for someone to replace? Who are you looking for? Zhu Changluo looked at Li Mi, and then asked.

After all, it was a dereliction of duty, Chen Ju was also a little vague, hesitated for a while, and replied to everyone: "It's a eunuch of the Salary Saving Division......"

"The eunuch of the Salary-Saving Division?" When Zhu Changluo heard this, he also frowned, and was very dissatisfied with Chen Ju's support.

Li Mi pondered for a moment, and then asked Chen Ju, "But Wei Zhongxian?" ”

Chen Ju's body tightened suddenly, and he asked Li Mi rhetorically: "How does Grandpa know, he is really a god!" ”

This kind of reaction is equivalent to admitting that it was Wei Zhongxian who replaced him.

The Salary Division and the Bell and Drum Division, the Treasure Money Division, and the Mixed Hall Division are called the Four Divisions of the Ming Dynasty, which is second only to the Jinyi Guard's important yamen!

As the name suggests, the Salary Division is just the inner government yamen in charge of the salary in the palace, why is its status second only to Jinyiwei?

In fact, the reason is very simple, food, clothing, shelter and transportation are necessities of life, Beijing is extremely cold after winter, not to mention that the past few years have entered the Xiaoice period, the summer is very hot, and the winter temperature is ridiculously low.

Under such climatic conditions, the emperor, the queen mother, the queen's concubines, the princesses, the princesses, the palace maids, etc., the entire palace needs charcoal to heat.

As far as Li Mi knows, more than 20 million catties of charcoal are used in this palace every year, and they are not ordinary charcoal.

The palace burns the red Luo charcoal produced in Tongzhou, Zhuozhou and Wanping Daxing and other places, the precious hardwood is fired, black and shiny, the burning lasts, the fire is vigorous, and there is no peculiar smell, with the fragrance of wood, it does not smoke, it will not deface the objects in the palace, it will not pollute the air, it will be suffocating.

This charcoal became a daily necessity, and the palace and eunuchs who delivered it had to be delivered to their doors, that is, they had the opportunity to get close to the emperor and empress!

Just be clever and serve diligently, the emperor or queen casually praises it, and if you want to climb up, it is much easier.

The eunuchs of the Salary Saving Division are known as the close attendant brand, which is not a waste of fame, so it is not an exaggeration to say that the importance of the Salary Saving Division is comparable to that of the Jinyi Guard.

Wei Zhongxian is a talent in the end, Li Mi didn't care about him, and he climbed to such an important position, which shows his personality and ability.

The Salary Division is the most abundant and powerful internal affairs yamen in the Fourth Division of the Ming Dynasty, and it is such an errand to take care of the royal family, and Wei Zhongxian, as the chief eunuch, how many people flatter, and how many people give money to him, it can be imagined.

also mentioned more about those who are in the charcoal business outside, and want to let their charcoal enter the inner court and become an "imperial businessman", how much benefit will be given to Wei Zhongxian.

Charcoal entering the palace may not produce much profit, but just go out and say that this is the charcoal that the emperor is using, and the value is completely different.

Of course, Li Mi didn't have time to think about these trivial matters, but said to Chen Ju: "Can my father-in-law find Wei Zhongxian for me, there are some things I want to ask him." ”

Although Li Mi does not have an official position, he is a dignified Xu Guogong, and his involvement with the royal family is too close, Chen Ju has always been respectful to Li Mi, how can he refuse, not to mention that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is still watching here.

However, Chen Ju shook his head unexpectedly this time and said, "If you want to find Wei Zhongxian, it's really not easy......

Zhu Changluo, as the crown prince, heard this, and he was also very angry, and the matter was related to his son's innocence, but he couldn't even summon a eunuch, how big is this Wei Zhongxian!

Chen Ju saw that Zhu Changluo's face was displeased, and he didn't dare to hesitate, and immediately replied to Zhu Changluo and Li Mi.

"It's snowing for the past two days, Long Live Lord needs someone to serve him, Wei Zhongxian is the great eunuch of the Salary Saving Division, and he stays with Wan Sui Lord all day long, and I don't know what he has done to please the Lord of the Lord, and he has never left Qixiang Palace in the past two days......"

As soon as Chen Ju said this, Li Mi was even more puzzled.

It is said that these big eunuchs, if they are ranked in Zhu Yijun's place, Tian Yizi is the first, followed by Wang An and Chen Ju, because Li Mi deliberately suppressed, Wei Zhongxian is not ranked either.

But now Wei Zhongxian is quietly becoming the chief eunuch of the Salary Saving Division, and he is still waiting for Zhu Yijun to come, which can't be unguarded!