Chapter 611: The Bird's Ambition

Entering the Bei'an Gate of the Imperial City, passing through the Huangwa West Gate on the right, you can see twenty or thirty houses of blue bricks and red tiles, but they are larger than the Si Jian and Shang Yi Jian who are opposite each other in the East Gate of Huang Wa, and here is the eunuch of the twenty-four yamen who are second only to the celebrant and the second in the inner official prison.

Due to the fact that the eunuchs Zheng He and Wang Jinghong have been adrift at sea for many years, the affairs of this eunuch are often two young supervisors. Over time, the little eunuchs who entered the palace late didn't even know these two real bosses. Even if Zheng Heren came back last year and often lived in the palace, he rarely really interfered in the affairs of the internal officials and eunuchs. Others rumored that the position of the celebrant and eunuch was reserved for him, but he himself didn't care.

For Zheng He, although he can always get a sense of peace of mind when he returns to land after wandering overseas for several years, the accompanying irritability and fear make him even more troubled, which also makes him more reluctant to get involved in the whirlpool of power. Not long after he went to the West, he received the order of the three major palace disasters and ordered him to return as soon as possible, so he returned a year earlier than planned. And, based on what he had seen and heard when he returned, he had come to a disheartening conclusion.

I'm afraid that the last time was the last time he went to the Western Ocean, and from now on, that sea area will have nothing to do with him.

"Grandpa Zheng, Grandpa Zheng!"

Hearing this cry, Zheng He, who was dressed in a big red palace robe, came back to his senses from his melancholy, and when he opened his eyes, there was a tranquility in those eyes, without any sentimental disappointment or the like. Seeing that the little eunuch was only fourteen or fifteen years old, he stood cautiously and solemnly, he couldn't help but think of himself at the beginning, and then remembered that he was now in the palace family, and immediately asked lightly: "Didn't I say that if it is the matter of the internal officials and eunuchs, the two young eunuchs will be in charge?" If it is not easy to decide, isn't there still an internal official, eunuch, and prince? ”

"The prince happened to accompany the imperial grandson out today, and it was Gonggong Lin and Gonggong Xue who asked the younger one to ask for instructions." The little eunuch was just a handyman running errands, and this time he was sent by the head to tremble, and at this time he hurriedly knelt down in fear, "It was the Xia family who quietly sent someone to Xia Shangshu in the prison...... No, no, Xia Yuanji sent something, but it didn't fit and was taken by someone and stabbed to Gonggong Lin and Gonggong Xue. The two fathers-in-law said that now that Gonggong Zheng is back, it is up to you to decide......"

Before he finished speaking, Zheng He, who was lazily leaning on the recliner just now, suddenly sat up straight, his eyes revealed a cold light that could not be concealed, and then he sneered even more: "They know that this kind of thing is up to me, and in the past, they were doing things like that, but their hand was stretched out quickly, pointing out that I didn't understand anything after I hadn't been there for many years?" ”

Knowing that the little eunuch must not be able to answer, he didn't bother to talk to a little person, so he pushed the handrail and stood up, and ordered the two middle-aged eunuchs in the room who were motionless like wooden stakes: "Go and get my unicorn suit!" ”

Although Zheng He has been back for more than half a year, he rarely appears in front of people, let alone the main hall of the internal officials and eunuchs, except for the occasional call to accompany the Qianqing Palace, or to go out to deliver things by order, or to stay temporarily in the mansion outside the palace for a few days. Therefore, at this moment, Zheng He appeared in a bright red satin gauze plate gold embroidered over-the-shoulder unicorn suit, and everyone up and down was taken aback. Especially those miscellaneous officials who had never seen Zheng He before, Fengyu, etc., unconsciously lowered their heads under that kind of compelling gaze.

"The slightest trivial matter made a fuss, and when it was spread, I thought that the internal officials and supervisors had no rules and decisions at all!" After scolding him violently, he asked directly, "The Xia family sent something in, who took it?" Can I bring a letter? ”

"Back to my father-in-law, it's small! Although I didn't bring letters, I gave clothes, shoes, socks and snacks to eat! ”

As soon as the words fell, a shrewd little eunuch who was covered with news at a glance took a step forward, knelt down on his knees respectfully, kowtowed again, and said: "The little one saw that the two elders were in prison with their burdens, so they quietly followed behind, but they actually saw them handing things to Xia Yuanji!" Xia Yuanji was ordered by the emperor, and he was specially moved from the Jinyi Guard Prison to the Inner Official Prison Prison, and he was never allowed to visit and bring private belongings at will, which was clearly contempt for the will! ”

Hearing such a big hat pressed down, the two elders, who were already a little trembling, suddenly secretly complained to themselves, and hurriedly knelt down, and one of them even defended without words: "Gonggong Zheng, the little one is really wronged, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has greeted him before, Xia Shangshu is loyal and good, and he should take care of the place where he should take care of it......"

"Gonggong Zheng, you can listen, Xia Yuanji is not a household secretary for a long time, and even his family has been confiscated, he actually calls him a scholar over and over again! If he is loyal and good, how can the emperor be angry and put him in prison, and then he will not be registered! ”

"Enough!"

Hearing this noisy rhetoric, Zheng He's face suddenly turned pale, and he shouted angrily. Seeing that some of the people below were gloating, some shook their heads and sighed, some were casual, and some were amazed, he felt a burst of anger in his heart. Glancing coldly at the little eunuch who had come out to denounce him, he pointed at him and shouted: "Drag this invincible dog down and tie it up, gag it and throw it into the firewood room, starve him for a few days, and let him know what rules and decency are!" ”

Although he said that he didn't often look at things, but after all, he was a favorite of the emperor, and as soon as these words came out, he was only stunned for a moment, and immediately several strong small fire people grabbed in from outside, directly blocked the man's mouth with a handkerchief, and dragged him out upside down. When the babbling sound completely disappeared, he looked at the subordinates with different expressions in the hall.

"In the future, if there is such a fuss and fuss, it will be handled in this way. The internal official prison is the important place of the 24 yamen of the eunuchs, not a noisy vegetable market. Even if the emperor thinks that he is an official prisoner in the Qin department, and he has not been executed for a day, he has to pay homage to him as a scholar, how can he be bullied and neglected! As long as you don't have letters, clothes, shoes, socks, food, etc., you can send them in, and this is the case with Jinyi Guard, don't you know? Wouldn't it be nice to make a big fuss about such a trivial matter and spread it? ”

Nowadays, few of the eunuchs in the inner official prison have experienced the martyrdom, let alone seen Zheng He carrying a knife to protect Zhu Di's left and right, and even many people have seen such a big fire for Zheng Gonggong, who was idle and indifferent in the past. However, being reprimanded like this, Xue Ming, the young eunuch of Zuo, was a little unconvinced, and immediately asked abruptly.

"Since Gonggong Zheng said so, what if the emperor blames him?"

"The emperor blames it, and I will bear it!"

was dealt with by Zheng He so resolutely, and the internal officials and supervisors suddenly returned to their former calm. At noon, Wang Jinghong, the eunuch of the internal official eunuch, and Yang Qingfang, the eunuch of the metropolitan governor, rushed over. The three of them went to the West several times together, even if there was a gap in the past, it was completely bridged in the time when they shared hardships and hardships later, and they were a little embarrassed to sit together at this time. They have spent a lot of time outside and little time in the palace over the years, and they already hate these deceitful and deceitful things.

"Fortunately it's you today, if it were me, I really wouldn't be able to suppress these masters with eyes on the top of their heads!"

After all, Wang Jinghong only entered the palace after he became an adult, and with the fact that he had sailed on the sea and knew a lot about the hydrology and geography of the sea, he was promoted step by step, which is not the same as Zheng He's favor with the emperor since childhood. Moreover, if he asked himself, he knew that even if he had supported the crown prince, he would not be able to say such a powerful word. It's like being an envoy abroad, Zheng He can often convince those foreign princes with just a few words, but he can't do it.

"I was also forced, if I couldn't even suppress this kind of thing, then my days in Yanwang Mansion would be in vain!" Zheng He narrowed his eyes, and then sighed, "I'd rather deal with those pirates and princes at sea than fight with these fools in the palace...... By the way, are those officers and soldiers who went to the West okay in Nanjing? ”

"Naturally not good." It was Yang Qing who answered, although the governor was ranked last among the twelve eunuchs, but because he had followed Zheng He to the West, no one dared to underestimate him, and he had always cared about the next official army. At this moment, seeing two internal officials, eunuchs and eunuchs with different backgrounds and experiences, staring at him, he spread his hands and said, "When I return next time, I will be no different from ordinary officials and soldiers. As far as I know, they'd rather go to sea. ”

The three people in the house all knew in their hearts that the reason why the officers and soldiers would rather go to the West was naturally because the spices and other things they brought with them were enough to cover the expenses of several years. And the reason why they would rather go to the West is because they are high envoys of the Celestial Empire in the eyes of those Fanbang princes, but when they arrive in Beijing, there are countless etiquette rules, and there are endless golden branches and jade leaves.

"Three fathers-in-law, the royal supervisor Zhang Gonggong is here!"

Hearing such a sentence from the henchmen guarding outside, Zheng He couldn't help but smile at each other with his two colleagues, and then said: "As soon as this Zhang Qian comes, almost all of us who have gone over the next time will be here!" After saying this, he instructed the outside, "Hurry up and invite Grandpa Zhang to come in!" ”

After Zhang Qian entered the room, he saw the three people sitting together, and he was stunned for a moment and laughed. are all people who have seen the outside world, so he doesn't say those nonsense anymore, laughs and talks about a few things during the day, and then changes to a positive color: "Last year, the tax of the ship division was greater than that of the previous year, and the previous year was added to a large number, and the tributary envoys were not less, and the officials were saying that the Western treasure ship should be abolished." Looking at the current situation, everyone will have to take a good rest in the past two years. Gonggong Zheng, someone asked me to ask you, have you collected any plant seeds on the Western Islands? ”

Seeing Zheng He's stunned face, Zhang Qian also knew that he was a little abrupt, but Zhang Yue had made a special trip to the door before, so he had to bite the bullet and said: "I have a nephew who is very interested in Fanbang plants, so I specially asked me to ask, if not, I will turn around and let him die." ”

"Yes, there are, there are a few officers under me who like to mess with these things overseas the most, and I will send someone to Nanjing to ask about it when I go back."

Since Wang Jinghong agreed, Zhang Qian breathed a sigh of relief. It's just that he didn't have the heart to put more effort into Zhang Yue's strange question, so he leaned forward immediately, and his voice suddenly became extremely low: "I came to look for you and one more thing, as soon as Lao Huang Yan died, that seat was vacant for a long time, and many people were staring at it, and it was inevitable that there would be chaos in the palace." But everyone seems to have forgotten that the emperor had rewarded people with the title of celebrant and eunuch before, and it was Hou Xian, who had not been in charge of things in the past few years. He is shrewd and capable, why don't you ask him to take it directly? He was originally a young eunuch with five envoys to the Western Regions, and his prestige and qualifications were sufficient. ”

Zheng He and the others did not covet the position of the eunuch, and they were very tired of the little scheming of the people in the palace, and they couldn't help but be moved when they heard the words, and before anyone could answer, there was a sudden commotion outside, and then the curtain was beaten high, and it was a small eunuch who was originally guarding outside.

"Gonggong Zheng, Princess Yongping hanged herself! In addition to this matter, the Qianqing Palace just passed the word, saying that the emperor suddenly fell ill, and the two imperial doctors of the Tai Hospital were driven out by the emperor after checking the pulse! ”