"Your Majesty, Xiao Jing is here. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info" Wang Yue walked in and said.

Zheng De glanced back at him, nodded and gestured, "Let him in." ”

After a while, an elderly eunuch with snow-white hair walked in, bowed down and said, "Slave and maidservant eunuch Xiao Jing knocks on the saint." ”

This is the number one person in the inner court, the eunuch Xiao Jing, who is in charge of the seal. However, because this person rarely appears in the palace, Zheng De has not had much contact with him, but his impression is not bad.

"Xiao Lao, sit down." Zheng De pointed to the seat in front of his imperial case, smiled and made a gesture of please.

As for why Xiao Jing is called "Xiao Lao", it is also out of respect for the old man. After all, he really couldn't say anything about an old man calling him by his name. Although he is only a slave, Zheng De comes from the 21st century and does not have such a heavy class concept at all.

Looking at the emperor who was still standing in front of him, Xiao Jing smiled and said, "How can there be a place for slaves and maids to sit in front of the saints, and besides, the slaves and maids are also old, so it is better to stand comfortably." ”

"Whatever you want." Zheng De waved his hand, he is not a person who likes to force others. Straight to the point, "I came to you today to discuss something with you." I heard Wang Yue say, there are more than 50,000 people in the palace, do you think you need so many people? ”

"The emperor wants to cut people in the palace!" Xiao Jing understood the meaning of Zheng De's words as soon as he heard it, but he didn't want to get too involved in this matter, so he followed the emperor's meaning and said, "If you go back to the saint, there are indeed a lot of idlers in the palace who are always indifferent. ”

Zheng De didn't expect Xiao Jing to answer so simply, he frowned and said dissatisfiedly, "In that case, why don't you get rid of this part of the people?" ”

Xiao Jing replied helplessly when he heard this, "Holy Lord, the slave and maid are the eunuchs of the master of ceremonies, and the slaves and maids can't take care of this matter!" ”

Zheng De was stunned when he heard this, and then he understood. Xiao Jing's meaning is very clear, he is just a eunuch who holds the seal of the celebrant eunuch. And the twenty-four yamen are not subordinate to each other, even he, the number one person in the inner court, cannot speak on some matters.

Now if we want to solve this problem, there is only one way, to set up a unified body to manage these 24 yamen. Zheng De quickly thought of this, and said to him after a moment of silence, "In this way, I have decided to set up the Internal Affairs Office and take charge of the twenty-four yamen, I don't know what Elder Xiao's opinion is?" ”

Xiao Jing was also taken aback by the emperor's idea, but he didn't expect the emperor to directly set up an internal affairs office to take charge of the internal affairs office, which was really unexpected for him. Isn't the emperor afraid that the internal affairs government is in danger of his own safety?

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid this is a little inappropriate, if the Internal Affairs Office is powerful......"

Although Xiao Jing's words were not finished, Zheng De also understood what he meant. It was indeed dangerous if the Internal Affairs Office was powerful, but he had already thought of a solution.

"That's it, as for the candidate for the Minister in Charge of the Internal Affairs Office......" Zheng De touched his chin and glanced at Wang Tingxiang next to him, with a wicked smile on his face. The latter is a little hairy, the emperor can't take a fancy to me, right?

"Wang Tingxiang is the Minister in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, what does Elder Xiao think?"

Xiao Jing was stunned for a moment, glanced at the celebrity next to him who had recently been in front of the emperor, and said, "Your Majesty, are you just going to let this Lord Wang enter the palace?" ”

Zheng De laughed out loud when he heard this. looked at Wang Tingxiang, who was depressed on the side, and said lightly, "It's okay!" ”

Xiao Jing just said this, and knew that this was unlikely. After all, there seems to be no precedent for officials to enter the palace as eunuchs, at least there seems to be no such precedent in this dynasty.

However, he still couldn't help but say, "Holy Lord, the affairs of the inner court should still be handled by the head of the palace." ”

"Any questions?" Zheng De looked at him, and the smile on his face still did not fade.

"This ......" Xiao Jing glanced at Wang Tingxiang, who had an indifferent expression on his face, and did not seem to have any dissatisfaction. Thinking that he didn't want to offend karma anyway, he was already offended, and his heart went straight out, "At the critical moment, the people in the inner court can rely on, Your Majesty." ”

"The people in the inner court can be relied on?" Zheng De said noncommittally, "Not necessarily, right? The eunuchs of the Han and Tang dynasties were so powerful that they could even depose the emperor, do you still think they can be relied on? ”

Hearing what the emperor said, the eunuch who had experienced all kinds of winds and waves was frightened and knelt down with a "poof", "The slave is guilty, and the slave and maid deserve death." ”

As soon as Zheng De saw him kneeling, he knew that he was frightened by his words. frowned slightly, and quickly reached out to help him up.

"Get up, I didn't say anything about you."

"Long live you." Xiao Jing stood up tremblingly under the support of the emperor.

Zheng De looked at him, "You won't object to this matter anymore, right?" ”

The emperor threw down such a big hat, what else could I oppose? Xiao Jing smiled helplessly, "Slaves and maids listen to Your Majesty for everything." ”

"Ziheng, are you willing to take on this position?" Zheng De nodded when he heard this, and looked at Wang Tingxiang on the side.

The latter smiled and said, "Your Majesty doesn't really want me to enter the palace, right?" ”

I didn't expect Wang Tingxiang to joke, and after Zheng De was stunned for a moment, he also laughed rootedly, "Aren't you in the palace now?" ”

"Commandment." Wang Tingxiang was not pretentious, and agreed to it.

Since there is an unprecedented official title of "Imperial Secretary", and there is no shortage of an official title like "Minister in Charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs", anyway, there are more lice and they are not afraid of biting. And looking at the emperor's posture, it is obvious that he took a fancy to him from the beginning, and this title can't be pushed off, so it's better to generously agree.

Seeing that Wang Tingxiang agreed, Zheng De looked at Xiao Jing on the side again, "Old Xiao, are you willing to serve as the deputy minister in charge of the Internal Affairs Office?" ”

"The slave and maid are old, please let the slave and maid out of the palace and return to their hometown." Xiao Jing saw that Wang Tingxiang's ascension to the throne had become an established fact, and he didn't want to end up in this palace. Who knows if this person will hold a grudge against what he just said. If you stay in the palace, you can put on your own shoes when the time comes. This old bone of his own, can no longer withstand the toss.

Zheng De nodded, it was best for this person to take the initiative to retire. In the yamen of the Internal Affairs Office that he set up, this person is indeed not suitable to stay in this position. Not to mention that this person is so old, with the network he has accumulated in the palace for so many years, I am afraid that it is not impossible to put the royal court in the air. It is indeed possible to save a lot of trouble if you go, and it is also convenient for the royal court to rectify the inner court.

But I can't let it go like this, lest others and I be unkind. Zheng De thought for a while and glanced at the two of them, "I'm okay with this, and Elder Xiao will support him for the rest of his life." At the same time, I also decided to let all the people in the palace who are over 60 years old and 60 retire, and they will be supported for life according to the income before retirement, what do you two think? ”

Xiao Jing thought that it was because of himself that he made such a decision. couldn't help crying with joy, "Slave and maid, thank Your Majesty for your mercy, long live my emperor, long live, long live!" ”

If it weren't for Zheng De's support, I'm afraid I would have to kneel down again. Seeing this old man who was still crying like a child with a handful of snot and tears, he was quite speechless.

"Wang Yue, come over and help Xiao Lao back." Seeing Wang Yue walking in, Zheng De hurriedly greeted him as if he had met a savior, and handed Xiao Jing over to him.

After seeing Wang Yue send Xiao Jing back, Zheng De looked at Wang Tingxiang and glared at him dissatisfiedly, "Ziheng, you deliberately saw me make a fool of yourself, didn't you come to help me just now." ”

Wang Tingxiang naturally knew that Zheng De was not angry, and said with a smile, "Your Majesty's affairs, how can the minister interfere, wouldn't it be overstepping?" ”

Zheng De shook his head helplessly, with a look of "then you can't help it". "By the way, I think there are too many twenty-four yamen, and you'd better be able to cut them down and merge some of them. And then get rid of those idle redundant people. There are also those concubines in the palace, if there are mothers of my uncles, I have decided to send them there, and as for those who have not given birth, let them support their old age in the palace. ”

Wang Tingxiang still said hesitantly when he heard this, "Your Majesty, sending those concubines out of the palace seems to be a little inconsistent with the ancestral system." ”

"Ancestry?" Zheng De glanced at him a little strangely, "Ziheng, when did you become so pedantic with the ministers outside?" ”

Wang Ting only smiled at this, "Your Majesty has decided, but this matter still needs to be said to the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces." ”

Zheng De nodded, he really had to say hello to his cheap mother about this. After all, according to the traditional Chinese thinking of the male protagonist inside and outside the female protagonist, the Zhang family is the master of the harem. And this kind of thing that violates the ancestral system, he has to say hello to the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces, and obtain the consent of these two. But when I thought of dealing with these two, especially my cheap mother, I suddenly had a big head when I remembered what happened last time.

He could only shake his head and not think about it for the time being.

"By the way, will you be too busy to deal with the affairs in the palace, do you want Liu Jin to come over to help you?" Zheng De suddenly had a doubt.

Wang Tingxiang smiled bitterly and shook his head when he heard this, you only know now that I can't be busy, so why didn't you think of it when you threw this official hat to me just now?

However, he didn't dare to complain to the emperor, and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty might as well send two people from the inner court to assist me in handling the affairs of the palace." ”

"Why do you want to send people from the inner court, isn't it better to send them from outside the palace?" Zheng De was puzzled by Wang Tingxiang's proposal.

Wang Tingxiang didn't know if the emperor was really stupid or deliberately testing himself, if the internal affairs office was controlled by foreign ministers, could the emperor really rest assured? So even if he was not very happy, the people who assisted him had to be selected from the inner court, so as not to make the emperor suspicious.

"Your Majesty, after all, the ministers are not very familiar with the affairs in the palace, so they need to select two ministers to assist them."

Zheng De also felt that what he said made sense, and when he saw Wang Yue coming in, "In this way, Wang Yue will assist you as the deputy governor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the other quota will be filled by a female official." ”