Nowadays, the civil and military officials of the court are deeply disturbed because of the case that occurred in Songjiang Prefecture to guard the Thousand Households.

Many of them bet their chips on Xu Jie's body in one fell swoop.

In their opinion, Yan Song suffered from "dementia" and could not sort out political affairs, and was sick at home for a month, and then Xu Jie, the second assistant of the cabinet, replaced Yan Song as the new first assistant of the cabinet, which is a matter of course.

What's more, in the previous negotiations with the envoys of the Chahar Ministry, Xu Jie proved that he was able to take on the burden of the first assistant of the cabinet.

The government and the opposition were waiting, waiting for Xu Jie's official promotion, asking the emperor to remove Yan Song's cabinet from the position of first assistant.

But before everyone could wait for this letter requesting the removal of Yan Song from his position, the case of the Songjiang Mansion guarding the Thousand Households Office came to an incident, and he was stabbed to the emperor by Shi Hairui, the right capital of the Inspectorate.

When the emperor learned of what had happened, Long Yan was furious and immediately ordered the case to be remanded for retrial, and appointed Hai Rui as the minister of the Imperial Mission, and rushed to Songjiang Mansion to investigate the case thoroughly.

Right now, as long as anyone with a discerning eye can see that Xu Jie's end is over, Xu Jie, as the second assistant of the cabinet, will definitely be involved in the family.

Regarding the things done by the family behind Xu Jie, there are many officials in the DPRK and the central government, who are actually aware of them.

But the vast majority of people have chosen to turn a blind eye, similar to annexing land, participating in smuggling and other matters, which can only be regarded as commonplace, because everyone is doing this behind their backs.

Besides, for Xu Jie, the second assistant of the cabinet, it is too late for everyone to catch up, how can they offend Xu Jie because of such a trivial matter?

However, there is no need for smuggling now, as long as there is a maritime trade certificate issued by the imperial court, you can reasonably and legally participate in the maritime trade.

When transporting goods, you only need to pay a sum of silver ranging from a few thousand taels to ten thousand taels, and you can be escorted by the imperial court's sailors, and if you remove the cost, you can also make a lot of net money.

Even if you don't want to participate in the sea trade, you can choose to sell the sea trade certificate, and after the buyer and seller agree on the price, they will come to the sea trade department in the capital to change the name and re-register.

However, up to now, there has been no sale of maritime trade vouchers.

Therefore, the maritime trade certificates issued by the Department of Maritime Trade are still in the stage of having no market value.

After seeing that the sea trade was profitable, many powerful families wanted to get involved, including many high-ranking officials and noble families.

At present, there are only two ways to obtain maritime trade vouchers, one is to obtain them through auction and complete the task of transferring materials for the imperial court fifty times, and the other is to issue maritime trade vouchers free of charge by the Maritime Trade Division.

And this part of the voucher issued free of charge, in addition to normal trade, must follow the relevant instructions of the imperial court.

People who can get the sea trade certificate issued by the maritime trade department for free can only be regarded as rare in Daming, and they need to go through layers of audits, and even your ancestors for eight generations must be found out clearly and registered.

At present, those who have a way are asking around when the imperial court will hold an auction and auction the sea trade vouchers, and those who have no way can only create a caravan and honestly complete the task of transferring materials for the imperial court.

……

Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.

At this time, Jiajing was sitting on the dragon chair, listening to the report from Lu Fang.

"Your Majesty, Hai Rui has officially set off for Songjiang Mansion."

"Yes, I see."

When Jiajing heard Lu Fang's words, the expression on his face did not change much, he just nodded and said in response.

Then, I saw a trace of hesitation flash on Lu Fang's face, lowered his head, and said cautiously: "Your Majesty, in addition, the slave maid has also received some news, I don't know whether to talk about it." ”

When Jiajing heard Lu Fang's words, he raised his eyebrows, glanced over Lu Fang's body, and commanded: "There is no need to worry about anything here, but it doesn't hurt to say it." ”

Jiajing's words undoubtedly reassured Lu Fang, and after organizing the language in his mind, he told everything he had learned.

"Your Majesty, the slave maid got the news, saying that before, Gao Ge Lao and Zhang Ge Lao specially visited Hu Ge Lao, and the two sides didn't know what they talked about, and after that, Hu Ge Lao personally went to Hai Rui's house."

"This high arch is really keen, and he actually smelled the opportunity so quickly!"

After listening to Lu Fang's report, the expression on Jiajing's face did not change much, but he gently rubbed the dragon head carved on the dragon chair with his hand, and said with emotion.

When Lu Fang, who was waiting beside Jiajing, heard this, his pupils suddenly contracted, a trace of shock flashed on his face, and he asked tentatively, "Your Majesty...... Your Majesty, you mean, Elder Gao Ge intends to ......"

When Jiajing heard this, he glanced at Lu Fang quite indifferently, and explained unhurriedly: "Before this, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng were attached to Xu Jie, which was nothing more than Taoguang and accumulating strength in secret. ”

"Now that the two of them are full-fledged, there is no need to be subject to Xu Jie."

When Jiajing said this, he paused for a moment, and then added: "Lu Fang, you might as well imagine that if Xu Jie is allowed to sit in the position of the first assistant of the cabinet, how long will Gao Gong have to stay up?" ”

At present, the first assistant of the cabinet is suffering from "dementia" and cannot sort out political affairs, and the second assistant of the cabinet is in prison, and it is difficult to protect himself. ”

"Gao Gong, like Zhang Juzheng, is a person with great determination, great perseverance, fearless of hardships and dangers, and indomitable, and I couldn't be more relieved that they will carry out the reform."

"If they don't have enough scheming and means, how can they fight those courtiers, Lu Fang, you say yes?"

When Jiajing's words fell, I saw Lu Fang's face full of happy and sincere expressions, leaned down, and said respectfully: "Your Majesty Shengming!" ”

……

When night falls, the Forbidden City, the celebrant is on duty.

Today, it was still Feng Bao's turn to be on duty, and the orange candle flame in the room vaguely reflected Feng Bao's figure.

At this time, Feng Bao was holding a red pen in his hand, and he was extremely focused on criticizing the notes sent from the cabinet.

At this moment, Feng Bao only felt that a figure appeared in front of him, blocking the light.

Just as Feng Bao raised his head and wanted to see who was so short-sighted, he suddenly found that the person standing in front of him was none other than his godfather, the eunuch Lu Fang.

Seeing that it was Lu Fang, Feng Bao hurriedly swallowed all the words that he had time to say back into his stomach.

At this time, Lu Fang's face was full of warm smiles, and behind Lu Fang, there were two little eunuchs holding food boxes.

Then, I saw a trace of panic flashing on Feng Bao's face, and he hurriedly got up from the seat and saluted Lu Fang respectfully: "The child has seen his godfather!" ”

Hearing this, Lu Fang glanced over Feng Bao's body, and asked with a concerned expression, "What, it's your turn to be on duty again today?" ”

"Yes, godfather, it's the child's turn to be on duty today!"

When Feng Bao heard Lu Fang's words, he immediately lowered his head and replied without thinking.

Seeing this, Lu Fang immediately stepped forward, stretched out his thin hand, gently stroked Feng Bao's head, his tone was full of blame, and said slowly.

"You, you, my godfather said before, let you pay more attention to your body and don't work too hard."

"Godfather brought you some food, you can use some!"

As soon as Lu Fang's words fell, he saw two little eunuchs carrying food boxes behind him immediately stepped forward and took out the steaming food from the food box in the same way.

Looking at the food in front of him, which was full of color, aroma and steaming, Feng Bao suddenly felt hungry in his stomach, his face was full of gratitude, he looked in the direction where Lu Fang was, and said respectfully.

"Thank you, godfather!"

"Well, you use it first, and my godfather has something to tell you when I run out!"

Lu Fang took in the expression on Feng Bao's face, nodded, and commanded.

"Yes, godfather!"

Although he was very curious about what Lu Fang was going to explain next, Feng Bao forcibly pressed it down, picked up the dishes and chopsticks, and devoured them in front of Lu Fang.

Lu Fang looked at Feng Bao's unscrupulous eating, and the expression on his face gradually softened.

"Godfather, the child is ready."

After rinsing his mouth with the tea in the cup, he saw Feng Bao looking in the direction where Lu Fang was, leaning down, and said respectfully.

Seeing this, the two little eunuchs immediately stepped forward, took the rest of the food back into the food box, and after bowing to Lu Fang, they left the celebrant eunuch.

After the two little eunuchs left, Lu Fang stretched out his hand and pointed to the vacant seat on the side, and commanded, "Sit down!" ”

"Yes, godfather!"

When Feng Bao heard Lu Fang's words, his expression immediately turned grim and he replied in a deep voice.

At this time, Feng Bao's heart was not as calm as it seemed on the surface, which could be seen from his slightly trembling hand hidden in his sleeve.

Feng Bao had a vague intuition, that was Lu Fang's next words, which were extremely important to him.

Because of this, Feng Bao seemed a little restless at this time.

……

After Lu Fang looked Feng Bao up and down, he said unhurriedly: "Feng Bao, my godfather has always cultivated you as an heir, and it has been almost a year since you became the celebrant supervisor. ”

When Lu Fang said this, his face was full of emotion, and he said to himself: "Even Gonggong Shi has left the palace, I really don't know how he is doing now, I want to ...... at the beginning."

After a few words of emotion, I saw Lu Fang come back to his senses, shook his head, and brought the topic back on track: "Over the past year, your performance has been seen by my godfather. ”

"Godfather is getting old, his body is getting worse day by day, there are some things you can make your own decisions, and you don't need to ask your godfather anymore."

After Lu Fang finished speaking, a trace of loneliness flashed on his face.

Perhaps it was because the news was so shocking that Feng Bao's brain fell into a state of downtime.

In Feng Bao's view, the meaning that Lu Fang wanted to express couldn't be more obvious, that is, to give up some power to himself and start the handover.

After calming down, Feng Bao's first reaction was whether Lu Fang would test himself with this matter.

Thinking of this, I saw Feng Bao's face showing panic, and immediately got up from the seat, knelt on the ground with a 'plop', and said respectfully: "What are you doing...... Godfather, your body is still strong, and the child still wants to stay in front of you and do your filial piety! ”

After Feng Bao finished speaking, he knocked his head on the ground three more times.

Seeing this, Lu Fang shook his head imperceptibly, and then stepped forward in person, helped Feng Bao up from the ground, looked him directly into the eyes, and said coldly.

"Why, you don't even listen to your godfather?"

Feng Bao had never seen Lu Fang show such an expression, and he didn't know what to do for a while, his throat seemed to be blocked by something, so he had to hesitate and say, "...... Daddy ......"

After helping Feng Bao back to the chair and sitting down, the expression on Lu Fang's face was very calm, and he turned to speak: "As the godfather said before, the godfather is getting old, and his body is getting worse day by day. ”

"You are the most optimistic person for your godfather, and since the time is almost up, it's time for you young people to take the position."

"In the future, you can decide many things on your own, and if you can't think clearly, you can come and ask your godfather."

It was only at this time that Feng Bao was able to determine that Lu Fang really planned to cede some power to himself and prepare for the handover.

After the handover is completed, Lu Fang will retire from the position of the eunuch who holds the seal of the celebrant and will be able to go further and replace Lu Fang and become the new eunuch of the eunuch of the seal of the celebrant and the eunuch.

Then, I saw Feng Bao forcibly suppress the excitement in his heart, leaned down, and responded in a deep voice: "Yes, godfather!" ”

Lu Fang took in the expression on Feng Bao's face, an inexplicable look appeared on his face, and said to himself: "At that time, Godfather may be sent by His Majesty to guard the imperial tomb, which can be regarded as a good errand." ”

"Godfather has served His Majesty all his life, and he is unwilling and does not want to be too far away from His Majesty, so Godfather wants to stay in a place where His Majesty can see."

After this, Lu Fang came back to his senses, looked in the direction where Feng Bao was, beckoned to him, and commanded: "Come, Feng Bao, come here, godfather still has a few words to tell you." ”

When Lu Fang's words fell, I saw Feng Bao kneeling on the ground without thinking, moving his knees to Lu Fang, his face full of respect.

"Godfather, please speak!"

"Hmm."

Looking at Feng Bao's performance, Lu Fang's face at this time flashed with a hint of relief, and after thinking for a moment, he said solemnly.

"First of all, Feng Bao, you must remind yourself all the time that everything you have is given by His Majesty."

"So at all times, you must stand by His Majesty's side unequivocally and be unconditionally loyal to His Majesty, understand?"

"Yes, godfather, the child understands!"

When Lu Fang's words fell, I saw Feng Bao lower his head and answer without thinking.

After that, I only heard Lu Fang's voice sound again: "In addition, you have to remember that Jinyiwei and Dongchang are originally a family, and you have me and I have you on both sides." ”

"If nothing else, Lu Bing's son Lu Yi will take over the position of commander of Jinyi Wei in the future, you have to have a good relationship with him, and communicate with him from time to time to coordinate the work of Jinyi Weidong Factory."

"In addition, Jinyiwei and Dongchang are the sharpest knives in the hands of His Majesty, when dealing with those courtiers, you can't leave the slightest mercy, catch what you should catch, kill what you should kill, once Your Majesty feels that your knife is not good to use, then your death will come."

Feng Bao saw that Lu Fang was full of gratitude, and immediately lowered his head and said in response: "Thank you godfather for your advice, the child remembers." ”

When Lu Fang heard Feng Bao's words, after pondering for a while, he continued: "Next, the position of the first assistant of the cabinet will be Gao Gong's turn to sit, and after Gao Gong will be Zhang Juzheng, and then they will implement the law change with the support of His Majesty." ”

"Don't go against them, even when your interests are harmed, and even if necessary, you can give some help."

Hearing Lu Fang's words, Feng Bao's pupils suddenly contracted, and his face was full of disbelief, because before this, Feng Bao had never received any rumors about the law change.

If Lu Fang hadn't mentioned this matter, I'm afraid he wouldn't have known anything about it until now.

At the same time, Feng Bao also keenly captured a news from Lu Fang's words, that is, Xu Jie, who was originally going to replace Yan Song and become the new head assistant of the cabinet.

Then, I saw Feng Bao come back to his senses, looked in the direction where Lu Fang was, and asked tentatively, "What are you doing...... Godfather, Xu Ge Lao's ......"

When Lu Fang heard Feng Bao's words, he just glanced at him, shook his head, and explained unhurriedly: "So far, don't you understand, why did Your Majesty send Hai Rui, a minister of the Imperial Mission, to Songjiang Mansion to investigate the case, the purpose is to make room for Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng. ”

"In addition, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, Hu Zongxian, and even Li Chunfang, who has just entered the cabinet, are all wearing a pair of pants, will they watch Xu Jie survive this crisis safely?"

After listening to Lu Fang's explanation, Feng Bao only felt a chill down his spine, with the assistance of Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, Hai Rui went to Songjiang Mansion to investigate the case this time, and it must be extremely smooth.

Whether it should be investigated, or not, even those old things will be revealed, and at that time, Xu Jie, as the second assistant of the cabinet, will inevitably be implicated.

After that, I saw Feng Bao suppress all the chaotic thoughts in his heart, looked in the direction where Lu Fang was, and said respectfully: "Thank you godfather for solving the child's doubts, the child understands!" ”

When Lu Fang heard this, the expression on his face did not change much, and after taking a sip of the teacup on the table, he said with emotion.

"Godfather is not a saint, Godfather has also done many wrong things, Godfather only hopes that from now on, you can learn a lesson and don't make the same mistakes as Godfather again, understand?"

When Feng Bao heard Lu Fang's words, the whole person immediately understood, and he knew very well in his heart that this was Lu Fang hinting to himself, and there was no need to mention the wrong things in the past.

In other words, he needs to tighten the lid for Lu Fang that is not good for him, which is the last test for himself.

Then, I saw Feng Bao suppress all the chaotic thoughts in his heart, raised his head, and made a solemn promise to Lu Fang: "Such a trivial matter, you don't need to be ordered by your godfather, the child will handle it properly!" ”

When Feng Bao's words fell, I saw a hint of relief flash on Lu Fang's face, nodded, and said slowly: "Well, then I will rest assured." ”

After this, Lu Fang withdrew his gaze from Feng Bao's body, got up from the seat, waved his hand, and spoke quite casually.

"Okay, it's not too early, godfather still has things to deal with, so I won't stay here for long!"

"Godfather, go slowly!"

It wasn't until Lu Fang's back was far away that Feng Bao raised his head, and the next thing that could be predicted was that after the transfer of power was completed, he would take over the burden from Lu Fang's hands and become the eunuch in charge of the seal of the power of the government and the opposition.

Who would have thought that a little eunuch who was in danger at the beginning would be able to climb all the way to the position of the eunuch who held the seal of the master of ceremonies?

At this time, Feng Bao's face was full of hesitation, and he clenched his fists and muttered to himself silently.

"Haha, it's finally time for this day, from now on it will be my Feng Bao's era!"

……

On the other side, Zhejiang, the Governor's Mansion of Zhejiang.

While appeasing Zheng Michang and He Maocai and letting them focus on the affairs at hand, Zhao Zhenji did not relax his attention to the situation in the capital.

At this time, in the study.

Looking at the letter sent by his eldest son, Zhao Dingzhu, Zhao Zhenji frowned, and an incredible look appeared on his face.

The eldest son, Zhao Dingzhu, mentioned in the letter that at present, the situation in the DPRK and China has changed greatly.

In the previous case of the rebellion of the soldiers guarding the Thousand Households in Songjiang Prefecture, the East Window Incident occurred, and someone stabbed the case to His Majesty's side with the help of Hai Rui, the right capital of the Inspectorate.

After His Majesty learned the cause of the incident, Long Yan was furious, ordered the case to be remanded for retrial, and sent Hai Rui as the minister of the Imperial Mission to immediately rush to Songjiang Mansion to investigate the case thoroughly.

After reading the contents of the letter, Zhao Zhenji had only one thought in his heart, and that was Xu Jie's end.

Zhao Zhenji's heart knows very well that Hai Rui is honest and honest, jealous and hateful, and there is no room for sand in his eyes.

When he arrives at Songjiang Mansion, he will definitely investigate this case thoroughly, and when the time comes, it will inevitably involve the family behind Xu Jie.

Xu Jie and the family behind him are both prosperous and lossy, even if Xu Jie, as the second assistant of the cabinet, cannot be spared.

"Alas, Elder Xu Ge, you are off at chess, in the end, it is still because of paralysis and carelessness, and you fell into Yan Ge's plan!"

Thinking of this, Zhao Zhenji flashed a gloomy look on his face, put down the letter in his hand, and said to himself silently.

Because of staying out of the matter, Zhao Zhenji can see the fire and see the clues at a glance.

In Zhao Zhenji's opinion, the government and the opposition, only Yan Song can do this.

After all, only your enemies will know you so well and know where your weaknesses are.

"Elder Yan Ge, you are really hidden, you can actually deceive so many people!"

After sighing, I saw Zhao Zhenji shake his head, take advantage of the teacup on the table, and take a sip.

"Since it is no longer possible for Xu Ge Lao to sit in the position of the first assistant of the cabinet, then his attitude towards Zheng Michang and He Maocai can also change."

"You have to keep them and continue to do things for me." (End of chapter)