Eunuchs are one of the most special groups.

A normal man's hobbies are nothing more than power, money, sex, and fame.

The eunuchs are not normal men, and without Xiao JJ, they basically don't do anything in terms of sex; And as long as you enter the palace and become a eunuch, you basically have nothing to do with the reputation of innocence, and there are very few eunuchs who can be praised in history.

Without the ties of color and fame, the eunuchs' desire for power and money is inevitably far higher than that of ordinary officials. Asking them to donate the money in their bags is basically asking for their lives.

The most important thing is that although the identity of the eunuch is very low and the reputation is also very poor, his job responsibilities are very special, and he is in charge of the food, clothing, housing and transportation of the emperor and concubines in the palace. In other words, the lives of the emperor and concubines were also in the hands of the eunuchs.

If an official wants to murder the emperor, he must not only consider the consequences, but also in terms of the method of implementation, it will not work.

But if you change to a eunuch, it is really possible to pull the emperor off the horse. As far as the Ming Dynasty is concerned, the Emperor of the Apocalypse disappeared inexplicably, and the Taichang Emperor disappeared within a month of ascending the throne. Even in the Jiajing Dynasty, there were more than a dozen palace maids who collectively murdered the emperor. It can be seen that the group of eunuchs, as long as their interests are violated, they are ruthless and unscrupulous.

Therefore, for the one or two thousand eunuchs in the palace, you still can't force them too quickly. Unless they follow the example of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, they will completely clean up all the eunuchs and leave no trouble. Otherwise, before offending the eunuch, you still have to think twice.

In Fang Yuan's regent palace, the eunuchs and palace maids were all brought from Jiangnan, and Wang Chengen, Liang Mama and others were all the princess's henchmen, loyalty, and safety were guaranteed. Those eunuchs and palace maids in the Qianqing Palace are unpredictable. The rabbit was in a hurry, and it was not impossible to rush up and bite Chongzhen and Queen Zhou.

Fang Yuan confiscated the Jin merchants this time, and the property of the officials had already confiscated 13 million taels of silver, plus the land and real estate converted into silver, it also exceeded 20 million taels of silver. It is enough to survive the fiscal deficit crisis that broke out due to the successive wars. There is even a surplus of five million taels of silver, which can be used as funds to prepare for the war in Liaodong.

However, if Fang Yuan only copied the court officials and Jin merchants, and did not copy the eunuchs, he would not be able to explain to public opinion. He is now a dignified regent, no longer a member of the eunuch party, and he must act fairly, otherwise he will not be swallowed up by the overwhelming scolding?!

Especially Shi Kefa and Huang Daozhou, two old men who specialize in picking thorns, returned home at the last silver donation conference. But according to Jin Yiwei's intelligence, the two of them have not stopped these days, the front of the house is like a city, and the officials who were forced to donate money by Fang Yuan are angry one by one, ready to come again and carry the coffin to Fang Yuan again.

For these two officials and literati leaders, Fang Yuan really had a headache.

If you want to reconcile with them, give them a high-ranking official! The two of them did not enter the oil and salt, and it was clear that they wanted the name of the direct minister, and they did not want power and wealth.

If you want to find a fault, follow the example of the two before the crossing to do a prostitution crime! The private morality of these two people is impeccable, and Jinyiwei can't find any big black material. You can't take a bribe of a few thousand taels of silver, a few hundred acres of land, and kill the two of them with great fanfare! This is not a clear attempt to retaliate? What's more, in terms of personal feelings, Fang Yuan still admires these two old men who can die for the Ming Dynasty and their beliefs.

Arrest them and scare them! If they resolutely refuse to be soft, they can only be passive Fang Yuan, kill but can't kill, let go and can't let go, and dig a pit for themselves.

Fang Yuan can also be regarded as able to understand the helplessness of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and even before the crossing, these literati were known. Standing on the shore, of course, you can stand and talk without backache, and all of them are clean. It's really in your own hands, and you really can't kill it.

Fang Yuan thought about it, but he could only find Cao Huachun, who had just arrived in the capital, and he who was familiar with the affairs of the eunuchs came forward to ask for silver, which was better than Fang Yuan going to have a hard time with the eunuchs in the palace.

He invited Cao Huachun to Shouning Palace, and directly informed Shi Kefa and Huang Daozhou to expose Cao Huachun's corruption and bribery of 350,000 taels of silver and conspiracy to kill the enemies in the palace. There is also news that Fang Zhenghua has been punished with a cane of 100 in public and fined 200,000 taels of silver to set an example.

Cao Huachun was obedient and coughed, "Fang Yuan! You want to scold Ah Weng with a cane, confiscate the silver, and give an explanation to outsiders, right? ”

Fang Zhenghua was punished with a hundred canes before, and although he did not suffer from the civil war, he was still resting on the bed. With Cao Huachun's old bones, it is estimated that no matter how hard Jinyiwei fights, he will not be able to get up.

Where would Fang Yuan let Cao Huachun be punished, and said busily, "Ah Weng, I would rather be punished for Ah Weng than scold Ah Weng!" I want Ah Weng to be punished for his crimes, and I can be regarded as having an explanation to the outside world. ”

This sentence was out of Cao Huachun's expectations, and he asked in amazement, "Fang Yuan, what else can Ah Weng help you with this old bone?" ”

The two finally got to the point, and Fang Yuan looked embarrassed, "Ah Weng, I forced the officials to donate six or seven million taels of silver, but I didn't ask for one or two taels of silver from the eunuchs in the palace. Shi Kefa and Huang Daozhou, a group of civil officials, are running around again, preparing to impeach again. ”

Cao Huachun immediately understood the meaning of Fang Yuan's words, that is, he wanted him, the chief eunuch of the ceremonies, to take the lead in collecting donations from the eunuchs, so as to save people from gossiping in the court. If Cao Huachun can ask for money in the inner court, he can also justifiably forgive his sins.

Cao Huachun sighed and said, "Asking for silver from the eunuchs in the palace is tantamount to snatching food from the tiger's mouth." Fang Yuan, how much do you want to raise in the palace?! ”

Fang Yuan groaned and said, "Seven million taels were raised from officials, and at least four million taels of silver will be fined and confiscated from the current and outgoing thirteen eunuchs, which is also used for military expenses to levy Liaodong." ”

Cao Huachun saw that he was really going to start from the thirteen eunuchs of the inner court this time, and sighed again and said, "Fang Yuan, I can only do my best, I will pay 200,000 taels of confiscated silver first!" Next, I will convene the thirteen eunuchs and discuss how to ask for money!" ”

Fang Yuan knew how difficult it was to ask for silver from the eunuchs, and asked, "How is Ah Weng going to ask for silver?!" ”

Cao Huachun said coldly, "Ah Weng, I have been the master of ceremonies and eunuchs for many years, and now the chief eunuch of the thirteenth eunuch, the steward eunuch below, who has how much black material, how many people have been killed, how many people have climbed to that position, I am like a mirror in my heart." I thought that these black materials would not be used for a lifetime, but I never thought that I still couldn't hide them. ”

"Fang Yuan, if it weren't for your filial piety to Ah Weng, I wouldn't have taken it out. Please don't kill them all, as long as you donate money, let them spend their old age in the palace! We eunuchs can only live like people in the palace, and if we leave the palace, the saliva of the people around us will spray us to death. ”

Fang Yuan said gratefully, "Ah Weng, please be relieved, as long as I cooperate with this donation of silver, I will allocate an additional 200,000 taels of silver to the palace every year, plus the previous 1 million taels, and allocate 1.2 million taels a year." ”

The meaning of Fang Yuan's words is that 200,000 taels are returned to the palace through subsidies every year, and one is to give favors to Chongzhen and Queen Zhou in the name of loyalty and filial piety; The first is to return some silver taels to these great eunuchs every year. Fang Yuan was born in the eunuch party, which is already the biggest concession to the eunuchs in the palace, and it can be regarded as a happy situation.

Fang Yuan said again, "I will send another 1,000 brocade guards, which will be assigned by Ah Weng to cooperate with the disposal of the silver donation!" ”

Cao Huachun nodded, this time is to have black material, and to have knives, where can those big eunuchs not comply? !