Two years will not have too obvious changes in Wanli, in the eyes of the Empress Dowager Li, he is still her own son who is not growing up, inheriting the absurdity from his father, he already has signs of liking and lust at a young age, and at the same time he is a little bossy, not as obedient and well-behaved as his youngest son Zhu Yiyi, but he doesn't know who this looks like. Whenever she sees her son, the scene that appears in the mind of Empress Dowager Li is not the scene of love with her husband and wife, or the scene of mother's love and filial piety, but the tragic scene of her husband dying suddenly a few years ago, orphans and widows embattled, and the strong and shaky society. Every time she thought of this, Empress Dowager Li naturally remembered the tall figure and the big hand that doubled the sun and the moon. Over the years, it is precisely because of the existence of this person that the country can be peaceful and stable, and he does not have to hear the sound of the golden drum.

As a woman from a poor background, Empress Dowager Li does not know much about education, and she is actually not good at how to communicate with her children. How to pass on these memories to her son, she can't say clearly, she can only use the most simple and crude way of cramming, hoping that Wanli understands.

Fortunately, the dynasty rules the world with filial piety, no matter who the emperor is, he must ensure absolute respect in front of his mother. And Wanli, who received Zhang Juzheng's education since childhood, is even more impeccable in terms of filial piety. Always behave humbly and politely in front of the queen mother, and never dare to disobey her mother's will. As for his mother's request, he also expressed his support with both hands, but then put forward a little personal opinion: I can't do this by myself, so I still have to ask Master Zhang to make an idea.

Empress Dowager Li was very satisfied with the statement of the Son of Heaven, "It's right that the emperor can think like this." Although the emperor has been married, he is still young after all, and he has not read the book thoroughly, and he still does not understand many things. The Ming Dynasty is huge, you can't afford it now, see more and talk less when you encounter problems, look at what Mr. Zhang does, you have to learn a little. When you reach the age of thirty, you have to come out to carry the burden by yourself, and you, Master Zhang, should also rest and rest at that time, and I can't accompany you anymore. These years are the time for you to work hard, and you can't delay. ”

After talking about Fan Jin, and pulling a few more homely words, especially after telling the emperor to pay attention to his body and have a good relationship with the queen, Wanli found an excuse to leave. The palace maids and eunuchs in the Empress Dowager's palace knelt on the ground and saw off the emperor. Wanli looked at it and stopped for a moment on one of the fair-skinned palace maids, who seemed to feel the emperor's gaze and subconsciously curled up her body. Everyone in the palace knows that although His Majesty has just come of age, he has already had the deeds of a private palace person.

It is very common for women in the palace to be favored by the emperor. But the problem is that the fortunate palace people can't get the token certificate, which is equivalent to suffering in vain, which is unacceptable. Besides, although the current queen has just gotten married, she is quite famous, how dare she cause trouble with a little sprinkling?

Fortunately, the emperor's gaze only stayed for a moment, and he had already turned around and continued to walk forward. It wasn't until he left the palace gate that Sun Xiu, the little eunuch who had been following him, came up and whispered to the emperor by supporting the emperor: "Does the heavenly family like that little girl?" The slave turned around and asked, which grandmother is she in charge of? ”

"Forget it, that's the people in the mother's harem, don't provoke it casually. Again...... It's not very good-looking, it's just that after I look at the queen's face, I will feel more pleasing to the eye when I see any palace maid. ”

The matter involved the queen, and Sun Xiu naturally didn't dare to say much. He knew in his heart that although the Son of Heaven and the Queen were newly married, they did not have that kind of intimacy with honey and oil, and the relationship was extremely bad. The queen's temperament is not necessarily bad, but she lacks the measure of a mother of the country, and in the degree of jealousy, she is no different from an ordinary housewife. If he pulls a horse for the Son of Heaven, the queen will not have a good time.

Although the queen of the Ming Dynasty also has requirements for appearance, the selection criteria are still good looks rather than beautiful immortals. Queen Wang Xijie's choice is the decision of Empress Dowager Li, and there are deeper considerations in terms of appearance. His son is young, and if he indulges in women, it will not only be beneficial to the country, but also to his body.

Especially the tragic lesson of her husband's indulgence in alcohol and premature death that day is there, and it is even more important to guard against her son. Of course, she hopes that her son's husband and wife will be harmonious, but she hopes that this harmonious husband and wife relationship will be based on each other's feelings, not on the attraction of women, because when choosing the queen, she deliberately chose this woman who is not outstanding in appearance and will never let the emperor indulge in her color and cannot extricate herself.

In the calculation of the Empress Dowager Li, she naturally hoped that Wanli and the queen would form a mutual relationship, establish a noble sentiment that is more similar to family affection, and transcend low-level tastes. But the problem is that she ignores the age of her son, Wanli's age is the stage of teenager's enthusiasm and hormonal explosion, and it is not as good as a real beauty to mention any big truth.

Another problem is that Wanli's aesthetics were actually raised by Fan Jin. Originally, the emperor grew up in the deep palace, and he had seen so many women, and his concept of beauty and ugliness was completely affected by his own vision. Sister Wang Xi's appearance is ordinary but not ugly, compared with these palace maids in the deep palace, she is above the level. Wanli doesn't have the kind of conditions that he has, and under normal circumstances, he will still be satisfied with this queen. It's just that after reading Fan Jin's comic book sent by the secret chapter, the situation is completely different.

Fan Jin's painting style is not the same as this era, in the composition of the beauty, and the use of the two-dimensional style of the Fusang island country in later generations, his inner idea is of course to hope that Wanli will indulge in big-eyed paper people, and keep the three-dimensional beauty for himself to enjoy.

Although the result did not completely make the emperor completely obsessed with the beauty in the painting, his vision did improve a lot, and he didn't look down on Sister Wang Xi's appearance at all. Even the husband and wife affair, which was the most attractive to young people, was only perfunctory due to lack of interest. The queen's temper has deteriorated, which also has a lot to do with it.

In addition to her appearance, Sister Wang Xi has nothing to gain in terms of talent. Of course, this is not to blame her, she was born in a poor family, she has not read any books, she was a standard Cinderella before entering the palace, she has no chance to contact those piano, chess, calligraphy and paintings, and there is no possibility that she has talents. In the final analysis, her character and knowledge are inseparable from the fence of village aunts and peasant women, even people like Wanli, who don't like to read much, despise the shallowness of the queen, and dislike her ugliness, so this wife is not interested. As for the other palace maids, in Wanli's opinion, they are only better than their wives, and their own charm is also like that, so they are not interested in stealing a few palace maids.

The young man is always full of energy, but he is bored in reading, and his wife is bored, so his attention can only be diverted elsewhere. When he returned to the Qianqing Palace, a dozen young and strong eunuchs arrived in a short time, either sweating profusely and wrestling, or practicing their fists and feet vigorously.

Eunuchs do not mean weakness, and there are many skilled fighters in the inner prison in charge of the guards in the palace, who are only stronger than the martial artists of the rivers and lakes. These eunuchs are neat, and in the current technical circle, they can actually be regarded as good players.

Several young eunuchs showed their intentions in front of the Son of Heaven, but Wanli leaned back in his chair and couldn't lift much of his spirit by watching these people fighting around. glanced sideways at the eunuch standing beside him,

"Zhang Cheng, this is the good player you selected from the palace? You should know in your heart what I asked you to do when I asked you to go to the Imperial Horse Prison, but in my opinion, these people are also ordinary. It's too ugly to play. Look at the dragon map swordsman on Fan Qing, what a clever man in it is, you can go to the room by stomping your feet, just now I let them go to the room, these useless minions can only move ladders and climb poles, this is the master? ”

Standing beside Wanli was Zhang Cheng, who was assigned to the Imperial Horse Supervisor to manage the internal army because of his words two years ago. Two years have passed, and most people have forgotten the existence of this eunuch. For example, Sun Xiuzhi and others believe that his life is the life of fighting with the military and the Han, and this life will come to an end. But I didn't expect that after the marriage of the Son of Heaven, Zhang Cheng was suddenly transferred back to serve by his side, and his grace was even more prosperous in the past, which surprised the eunuchs in the palace.

The days in the imperial horse prison made Zhang Cheng lose a little weight, but he was more capable and a little more heroic, and this kind of temperament was even more rare in the eunuch. He said in a deep voice: "When I returned to heaven, Fan Jin's writing may be excellent, and Danqing's skills are also good, but the story is all a lie after all." The slaves and maids have seen a lot of martial artists in the palace in the army, and there are also some Jianghu characters in the East Factory, some of whom are skilled, and they will also be called light skills. But there is no such thing as the one in the book. This matter can only be seen, not taken seriously. ”

"Bold minion, you dare to say that Fan Qing's words can't be taken seriously? If Master Zhang hears this, be careful about your life! ”

"Slaves and maids are Your Majesty's servants, and you only know Your Majesty, but you don't know anyone else. It is naturally Your Majesty who can make the slave die, and Master Zhang can't send the slave and maid. In front of His Majesty, slaves and maids can only tell the truth, even if they take their lives, they can't lie. ”

Wanli looked at Zhang Cheng, "You slave has learned a sharp tooth in the Imperial Horse Prison, I really don't know whether to go to military training or go there to play tricks." Don't think that if you train the internal drill army well, you can talk nonsense, Master Zhang is my mentor, how can you not be punished? I'm not a faint king, so I naturally know that the things in the script can't be counted, but I'm just having fun with you, don't think of deceiving people about everything. Fan Qing's family has meritorious service to the country, so he said that this coal stove chimney was specially mentioned by the queen mother today. Since this has been played, there has been a lot less charcoal poison in the palace every year, and like the cowpox prescription, it is a great merit of countless living people, and it can't really be remembered because Fan Qing's family doesn't take credit. ”

Zhang Cheng said: "There is a holy monarch first, and then there are virtuous ministers, only because there is a master like Your Majesty, there will be Fan Jin's background." He was a high-ranking official at a young age, and he was rewarded by His Majesty, and meritorious service should also be done. In addition, he made some money himself, and many of the shops selling coal stove chimneys in Beijing were done by his family. Last year, the weaving and dyeing bureau was dismissed, and the use of satin was used for procurement, and his family was afraid that he would not worry about using silk for 20 years. ”

Wanli glared at him and said, "You're not a speech official, don't always stare at others!" Just a few days after coming back, he was presumptuous again, and he should be punished! Fan Qing's family returned to Beijing this time to report on their work, and then they were going to get married, so you went to choose a hall and sent it to Master Zhang's house with furniture, and it was said that it was a congratulatory gift from me. In addition, borrow a full set of Luan to set up a scene for Master Zhang, you are responsible for scheduling, if there is a leak, you will go to the Northwest Supervision Army, don't block in front of me! ”

"Slave obeys!"

Although Zhang Cheng was scolded, he did not have any regret or fear in his heart, and he was not angry at all. If the young emperor was angry, he wouldn't have made such a move. In the past two years, Zhang Juzheng's teachings, coupled with the comic books and books that Fan Jin regularly sent, were still of great benefit to the emperor's training. The Son of Heaven, who already likes to play scheming, is much deeper than his peers, and his joy and anger are not necessarily the same thing as his inner thoughts.

The emperor wanted people, people who were completely loyal to him. In the fifth year of Wanli, he cooperated with Zhang Juzheng, thinking that he had played a very good trick and got a group of his own protégés. But now, the emperor has doubts about whether these people are like him. Just like the marriage between Fan Jin and the Zhang family, he may not be satisfied in his heart.

Recently, the emperor did not deal with Fan Jin's impeachment by some officials, ostensibly because he was not pro-government, but in fact he wanted to give Fan Jin some warnings, so that he knew that he was close to the Zhang family and did not mean that he could do whatever he wanted. How much can be done, or how much merit can be made, is secondary, and the emperor values loyalty the most. Although the Son of Heaven will not lose his favor to Fan Jin because of this matter, he will not be as affectionate as he seems on the surface.

The emperor needs a lonely minister, the kind of minister who is not close to anyone except himself, and can kill anyone. This kind of minister is not easy to find in civil officials, but as a eunuch, he should be able to do it. What can be done by the ministers is the way for the ministers to be promoted. The Son of Heaven needs a lonely minister, and he has to be a good lonely minister, so Zhang Cheng can unscrupulously deny any minister in front of the emperor, and the more he behaves and is not right with anyone, the safer he is.

Leaving Wanli's side, he did not go to the imperial prison, but first went to see his godfather Zhang Hong, which was also Zhang Cheng's biggest protection. His loneliness is not only true for foreign ministers, but also for the palace. Feng Bao is currently hot in the palace, and his power is not inferior to Liu Jin of the Wuzong Dynasty. I don't know how many eunuchs have tried to cling to Feng Bao, but Zhang Cheng has always had a not far and not close attitude towards Feng Bao, if it were not for the support of such a godfather as Zhang Hong, I am afraid that he would have been driven out of the Forbidden City long ago.

Although Zhang Hong is an old-timer in the palace and a master of ceremonies, he is frugal and does not like to compete for authority, and his residence is very quiet. Zhang Cheng came in, kowtowed as usual, and rubbed his shoulders for his godfather, while Zhang Hong squinted his eyes and said:

"Mingjun and virtuous ministers, this is the prosperous weather. The Son of Heaven saluted Zhang Taiyue like this, which was a blessing for the Ming Dynasty. But Fan Jin ...... He's been in the local area for less than six years, isn't he? This is not a good thing, because he alone broke the testimonies. Zhang Taiyue spoils his daughter too much, he should send someone to Jiangning to get married, and he shouldn't get Fan Jin to Beijing. We can't stop this, but when the decree is delivered, find an opportunity to remind him to check it yourself, which is also for his good. By the way, the godfather still has to arrange someone around you, and you watch and cultivate him. ”

"Who?"

"Zhang Dashou's godson is called Zhang Whale. Although it is said that he is a great man, but this child looks good at me, full of economy, he should be the foundation of a scholar, I don't know how he actually entered the palace. How much we respect the scholars, this world is inseparable from the literati. Turn around and lift him up, arrange a good errand for him, and in the future, he may be a good seedling among our internal officials. ”