Qin Tai gave a small piece of silver to the strange old man, and the strange old man took the silver and was stunned.

The strange old man nagged, "This gentleman is so polite. This piece of silver can buy thirty steamed buns. You're so generous. But Xiao Lao'er wants to remind you of one thing, don't spend money indiscriminately when you have money now. I didn't understand this when I was younger, and you see I understand it now. ”

Zhan Xiaoxiao wanted to stop Qin Tai when Qin Tai gave money to the strange old man. But after thinking about it, don't be too stingy. So he went to find two small stools, Qin Tai sat on one and Zhan Xiaoxiao sat on one.

When this strange old man saw Zhan Xiaoxiao, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he didn't take his eyes back for a long time.

Qin Tai didn't speak, Zhan Xiaoxiao was looked at by this strange old man. She said, "What do you see?" ”

As soon as her words came out, the strange old man was even more surprised. He stammered, "Brother, from the east?" Or is it north and south? Is it out of tolerance, or is it stationed? ”

Zhan Xiaoxiao didn't understand, so he said, "What are you talking about?" Let's be clear. ”

The strange old man breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's okay if it's not, I thought you were too." ”

Qin Tai looked at Zhan Xiaoxiao and continued to look at the strange old man. He vaguely guessed what the strange old man meant. The strange old man was an old eunuch, and when he saw Zhan Xiaoxiao, he thought at first glance that Zhan Xiaoxiao was a little eunuch. will say what I just said, "brother" is a kind of honorific title for the little eunuch by the old eunuch in the palace. In the Ming Dynasty, the so-called imperial palace certainly referred to the Forbidden City in Beijing. But there is also another theory that there are two imperial palaces, one is the Forbidden City, the real palace, and the other is the imperial palace in Nanjing, the nightmare of the eunuchs. All the eunuchs who were assigned to the Nanjing Imperial Palace were tantamount to losing their future. Nanjing's imperial palace was established by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of Hongwu Emperor Taizu, and Zhu Yunwen of Emperor Hongwu and Zhu Yunwen of Jianwen Emperor Zhu were also proclaimed emperor in Nanjing, but soon began to build the Forbidden City far away in Beijing. After the Forbidden City was built, Ming Chengzu Zhu Di moved the entire imperial court to Beijing.

The "tolerance" and "garrison" mentioned by the strange old man refer to the work dynamics of the eunuchs. "Out of tolerance" means that the eunuch was ordered by the emperor to come to the local government to announce the decree or work. "Garrison" means that the eunuchs follow the emperor's orders and come to the local area for a long time. That is, to monitor the local officials, and to manage the officials nearby.

Zhan Xiaoxiao didn't even understand this kind of words, so the old man was sure that Zhan Xiaoxiao was not a eunuch from the palace.

After getting the silver, the strange old man said slowly: "When I established the Ming Dynasty with the founding emperor Taizu Hongwu Emperor, I had a strict order for the inner palace, and all ** people were not allowed to interfere in the government affairs. It's a pity that as an official, how can a person not have any contact with national affairs? At that time, the grandfather personally changed the names of all the eunuchs, and the eunuchs all changed their surnames to four surnames. At that time, the grandfather didn't know which minister he had listened to, and then he knew about the four famous eunuchs. Zhao Gao of the Qin Dynasty, Zhang Rang of the Han Dynasty, Gao Lishi of the Tang Dynasty, and Chen Lin of the Song Dynasty. He changed the surnames of all the eunuchs to Zhao, Zhang, Gao, and Chen. It turned out that the surnames of the eunuchs were not allowed to be used again. ”

Qin Tai also remembered a piece of history in the book, Ming Taizu Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang was a bitter child since he was a child, and he didn't know many words. After becoming emperor, in order to increase his knowledge, he memorized important history by listening to the stories told by his ministers. It is said that the minister who gave a lecture to Zhu Yuanzhang at that time tried his best to tell the story of major events in history, hoping that Zhu Yuanzhang would listen to some of them. It looks like the weird old man wasn't lying.

The strange old man said, "We eunuchs are the most miserable people in the world. If it weren't for the fact that the family couldn't survive, who would send their children to the palace as eunuchs? Eunuchs are the most undignified people in the world, not only can they not pass on their ancestors, but they are also inhumane. All people look down on us eunuchs from the bottom of their bones. But if we eunuchs look down on ourselves, who will treat us as human beings? In order to get the favor of the master, in order to be able to have some capital to be a person, we dare to do anything and are willing to do it. Every little eunuch who enters the palace has to pass three levels to be considered a real palace person. A eunuch must be able to be beaten, to endure hardships, and to be wronged. Therefore, these three levels are the first level, and each eunuch is beaten by a beating, and when he is beaten, not only is it not allowed to cry pain, but it must be called 'good beating'. The second level is to perform a thousand prostrations on the ground naked in the winter, and in the summer, wear cotton clothes and read aloud the words of compliments to the master in the sun for an hour, in which the words of compliments must not be repeated, but must be emotional. The third level is to help some old eunuchs who can't take care of themselves clean up the dirt on their bodies. These old eunuchs either can't poop or pee. The eunuch has to suck urine with his mouth, or use his fingers to defecate, and even lick the **** with his tongue when necessary, for fear that he will not be able to break the old eunuch's ****. Every little eunuch and a new eunuch must be trained in this way. I remember that I was only five years old at the time, and not only did I have to take care of myself, dress and eat, but I also stood outside the house every day with a large basin of water on my head, and at night I was forced to take the big top while reciting the rules of the palace. Combing hair, dressing, serving tea and pouring water, kneeling and so on have to be practiced. Of course, the trial object will not be a big person, it is our godfather or senior brother, and there are also palace maids in the palace. Some small eunuchs with a backstage, or eunuchs who worship a godfather with a powerful advantage, can be sent to the inner division to study. The inner eunuch not only taught the eunuch to read, but also taught the eunuch how to be a good eunuch. All the great eunuchs came out of the inner eunuchs, and their studies were said to be more intense and assiduous than those of the outside scholars. Only in this way can we change the perception of outsiders about ourselves and let ourselves have a little bit of dignity as a human being. ”

It was the first time Zhan Xiaoxiao had heard that this powerful eunuch had come over so hard.

The old eunuch said, "Every eunuch has no children of his own, and he will not ask his family descendants to inherit everything he has." It is the most common phenomenon for eunuchs to worship their godfathers in the palace and take in their sons. If there is no backer, the little eunuch is easy to be bullied, and the old eunuch takes his son not only to strengthen himself, but also to take care of himself in the future. Therefore, the more eunuchs with status, the more godsons there are. My godfather turned out to be the manager of a bathing department, and the so-called bathing department is the yamen that manages the bathing of the emperor and the concubines. My godfather exchanged a bowl of cold rice for my godson, and I hadn't eaten for three days since I was bullied by other eunuchs. Without this bowl of cold rice, I don't think it would have been dark that day. The godfather is just a godson like me, in fact, the godfather is also a eunuch who is often bullied. The two of us lived together in the palace for three years. My godfather's surname is Gao, so I will follow his surname Gao. My godfather not only taught me some words, but also told me some old things in the palace. It turned out that Zheng He, a famous eunuch beside Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di, was originally named Ma He. He is not a serious eunuch in the palace, but a eunuch recruited by Zhu Di, the king of Yan. Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunwen did not die, the fire in the palace was deliberately set by the eunuchs, in order not to let people know that the person who died was not the emperor. The real emperor has already left Nanjing with the help of his ministers, and I don't know what will happen in the future. In order to seize the throne, the two sons of Emperor Chengzu also bought their own people. In the end, all the eunuchs related to the prince were either killed or driven to the Nanjing Imperial Palace or the ancestral tomb. Emperor Yingzong was born to a very ugly palace maid. At that time, the emperor had no concubines, and the queen was a vinegar jar, and the emperor was not allowed to favor other women. All the beautiful palace maids in the palace were sent to the Huanyi Bureau to wash their clothes, not ready to see the emperor. The emperor had to be fortunate to have a very ugly palace maid, fortunately it was a dark night, otherwise the emperor would not have touched this kind of woman in death. In order to prove that he is of royal blood, Yingzong changed his era name to orthodoxy, just to block the ministers and the people of the world. It's a pity that he listened too much to the words of the great eunuch Wang Zhen and sent troops to the north without authorization. In the battle of Tumubao, not only did he lose his troops, but he was also captured by the enemy. For the sake of the Ming Dynasty and the people of the world, Yingzong's younger brother became Emperor Jing under the users of the ministers. The Vala people saw that Yingzong was useless, so it was better to extort a sum of money and release Yingzong. After returning to the palace, Yingzong was nominally the Emperor Taishang, but in fact he was under house arrest in Nangong Chonghua Palace. The two emperors and emperors, who are not much different in age, live awkwardly in the palace. In the end, Yingzong was restored to the throne with the support of a group of soldiers, and his son was Emperor Xianzong Chenghua. Emperor Xianzong's successor was Emperor Xiaozong, Emperor Xiaozong was an infatuated lover, and after his life, he only had one beloved woman, which was the empress. Xiaozong had only one son, the first emperor Emperor Wuzong. Emperor Wuzong had no son, and when he was dying, he had to choose an heir among his cousins, and finally chose the current emperor Jiajingye. However, Jiajing Ye did not admit that he had passed to Emperor Xiaozong, he only admitted that he inherited the throne of Dabo Xiaozong. insisted on posthumously crowning his father as the emperor, and his mother was the queen mother. The first emperor Wuzong had no younger brother, only one cousin, Emperor Jiajingye. Emperor Xiaozong and Emperor Wuzong had no descendants and broke off the lineage. These are all royal secrets, and my godfather tells them to me like a story. When I was eight years old, my godfather died in an accident, and I was also sent to King Ning's Mansion. ”

Qin Tai finally knew about this old eunuch, and it was precisely because he was sent to King Ning's mansion that he was implicated in King Ning's rebellion, so he talked about it like this3. He must have taken advantage of the chaos to escape, otherwise he wouldn't have lived.