Chapter 284: The one who works and the one who takes the blame
An hour passed in the blink of an eye.
The play on the stage is coming to an end.
Zhu Jianshen was immersed in watching the play and couldn't extricate himself. Li Zisheng excused himself and left the table temporarily.
After a stick of incense passed, Zhu Jianshen was no longer there when Li Zisheng came back. He looked around curiously and saw no trace of Zhu Jianshen, but saw Qin Chang walking towards him.
"Master Li Xian, you are truly a god."
Qin Chang said with a flattering smile, "Your Majesty has returned to the palace, and he has been taken away."
"Oh!?"
Li Zisheng looked very curious, "Both plays are over?"
Qin Chang shook his head and said: "I only watched one, and it was really exciting. Even our family is curious, what will be the next show?”
Li Zisheng looked at the playbill in his hand and said: "It's called "Female Consort"...it's also a folk play. It tells the story of a prefect's daughter who ran away from home to save her husband. After arriving in the capital, she disguised herself as a man and took the imperial examination. The story of a high school champion who was recruited as a consort by a princess, and later adopted as an adopted daughter by the emperor, and finally got her wish and achieved a happy marriage. "
Qin Chang said: "It sounds very satisfying... No wonder His Majesty is so happy today. You must know that new maids are sent to the palace every year, and there are many beautiful ones, but His Majesty never takes a look at them, but it is your side that makes His Majesty forget to leave. "
"Eunuch Qin smiled."
Li Zisheng cupped his hands and said, "If nothing happens, I will leave the palace first."
"Don't worry, Your Majesty didn't say anything By the way, you can leave the palace...how about finding a place to spend the night?" Qin Chang asked.
"This... is okay."
Although Li Zisheng felt that the effect of today's gift was good, Zhu Jianshen did not give him any substantial reward. At most, he only praised a few words, and felt that this gift was There is nothing in return for the gift, just stay one night and see if there is any surprise in the morning.
Qin Chang suddenly asked: "Master Li Xian, why are you suddenly interested in the affairs of the Ministry of Household Affairs? You also mentioned the border reserve matter. This seems not to be a question for you to ask."
< br>"Alas!"
Li Zisheng sighed, "Everyone knows that the imperial court is short of money? Who doesn't worry about His Majesty and is willing to share his worries? I just heard about it. I just want to say a few words to Your Majesty.”
"Really?"
Qin Chang twitched the corner of his mouth and said to himself that this is the first time I have heard someone talk about fighting for power and profit in such a fresh and refined way.
"Eunuch Qin, from now on the government may have to rely more on you for money and other matters."
Li Zisheng suddenly said with a smile.
“What did you say?”
Qin Chang frowned slightly.
Obviously he didn’t understand what Li Zisheng said.
At this moment, Wei Tai hurried over: "Eunuch Qin, your Majesty has summoned you to accompany him."
"Your Majesty..."
Qin Chang wanted to ask , Hasn’t His Majesty already gone back to the palace to rest? Why are you still summoning me?
"Eunuch Qin, please invite me first. I'll sit down here and have a few sips of tea... Hey, before His Majesty was here, Pindao didn't dare to touch the refreshments. Now I'm hungry, so I won't disturb you two." br>
As if nothing happened, Li Zisheng walked back to his seat, sat down and ate slowly.
……
……
Qin Chang and Wei Tai walked in the direction where the emperor left.
"What's going on?" Qin Chang asked.
"I don't know either."
Wei Tai said, "His Majesty summons, who can casually intervene? Don't you know everything after you meet the Holy Spirit?"
Qin Chang looked cautious, and couldn't help but think of Li Zisheng's sudden words before, and he had a feeling that trouble was coming.
After walking not far, we arrived in front of the gate of East Sixth Palace.
The emperor did not return to the Qianqing Palace tonight, but planned to spend the night in the East Sixth Palace. At this time, Zhu Jianshen had not yet entered, but was standing at the entrance of the palace. The female actors who had been brought here by the emperor were no longer there. They seemed to be gone. The chamberlain took him to prepare.
If the emperor wants to visit a woman outside the palace, he cannot just find a place to do it. The preliminary preparations are essential.
Qin Chang guessed that maybe because of this, the emperor had time to see him.
"Your Majesty."
Qin Chang walked over in a hurry and looked at Zhu Jianshen who was standing there as if admiring the scenery.
Zhu Jianshen turned around and ordered: "Qin Chang, there are tens of thousands of taels of silver, go and receive it."
"What!?"
Qin Chang looked confused.
Summoned me just to let me receive the money?
Or a large sum of tens of thousands of taels of silver?
Where did it come from?
Where do you put it after receiving it?
"I don't want to say more about the specifics. You will know after asking Li Qing." Zhu Jianshen said, "Do it as soon as possible. Come back to me when it is done. Don't let outsiders know."
“Yes.”
Qin Chang was surprised.
But Zhu Jianshen just said a few words and then led a large group of eunuchs and maids into the East Sixth Palace. Tan Chang stood there not knowing what to do.
……
……
“Eunuch Qin, what did your majesty say?”
When Wei Tai came over, he saw Qin Chang standing dumbly. There, it seemed like he was thinking about something.
Qin Chang turned around and saw Wei Tai looking at him with doubtful eyes, so he began to introduce the current situation: "His Majesty asked our family to contact Li Zi Province, saying that we would receive tens of thousands of taels of silver from him. Li Zi Province I casually mentioned to our family before that we would rely on our family for money matters in the future. It seems that our family doesn’t know what is going on."
Wei Tai came forward and whispered. Said: "Dongchang just found out that after Zhang Luan's impeachment as an official, the vacant official positions began to be sold to the outside world. I heard that many people went to Li Zi Province for activities. He couldn't accept it. Shao Yinzi...could it be related to this matter?”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
Qin Chang shouted, “Do you know what you are talking about?”
Wei Tai said helplessly: "Otherwise, how can we explain that His Majesty knew that this was happening, but did not punish Li Zisheng and gave him the job of recruiting new people? Nowadays, the imperial court is selling off officials and conferring titles. It’s a semi-open secret. If you say it doesn’t matter, who would believe it?”
"Huh..."
Qin Chang was startled at first, and then he was relieved, because as soon as Wei Tai's statement came out, it seemed that many things could be reasonably explained.
Wei Tai continued: "When Wynn was here in the past, I heard that he often admonished His Majesty in private, and even specifically blocked us beforehand. We didn't know what it was, and we blamed Wynn for making a fuss out of a molehill. Now look Come on, this kind of thing has actually existed for a long time.
"Think about it, Li Zi Province has been impeached by so many people in recent years. His Majesty is actually clear about his affairs, but he can still stand up. Doesn’t this just mean that what he does for His Majesty is something that others cannot do? "
Qin Chang asked in shock: "You mean, Li Zi Province relied on His Majesty's trust to do some things to sell officials and win titles, but transferred the money to the inner government? ”
"Yes."
Wei Tai said firmly, "Let me guess that the person who received the money before was Liang Fang. After all, he was also responsible for spending the money."
"It's possible. "
Qin Chang sighed, "When Lady Wan was here, who was more powerful than Liang Fang? He has always spent money lavishly. We thought he spent all the money saved by the inner government, but now it seems , Where is there so much money in the palace for him to waste?"
"Isn't it? It was probably Li Zisheng who obtained it by amassing money, and then spent it through Liang Fang's hands... But now Liang Fang has lost power. , Your Majesty will leave this task in your hands," Wei Tai said. Qin Chang scolded: "Do you think this is a good thing? It will be infamy for thousands of years... Now, you can go ahead and take care of the money. We don't want to get our hands dirty!"
Don’t do to others what you don’t want others to do to you. Since you all know that this is a bad job that will ruin your reputation, why do you blame it on me? While Wei Tai was slandering, he said helplessly: "Anyone will escape from this kind of thing that will bring infamy throughout the ages. It's not that I don't want to help you, it's just that... we can find someone else."
"Look for it." Who? Find Liang Fang?"
Qin Chang looked unhappy.
You have analyzed so much with me, and even guessed the cause and effect closely. I asked you to do things, but you continue to push back and forth. It seems that you, the chief eunuch, no longer want to be.
Wei Tai said: "We leave it to the people below. Some people don't care about reputation. For example..."
"Ke Gong?"
After hearing this hint, Qin Chang immediately Know who you are talking about.
Xiao Jing.
Because Xiao Jing was the supervisor of the fallen admiral Dongchang eunuch Shang Ming. Shang Ming lost power and was expelled from the palace. As a result, everyone in his line was implicated. Now Xiao Jing is suffering in the palace. Despite being excluded, everyone knew that he had outstanding abilities and was the most qualified person to replace Eunuch Bingbi, the Superintendent of Ceremonies, but he was still unable to replace him.
Xiao Jing has even requested more than once that he wants to be transferred out of the capital and serve as a eunuch elsewhere. Obviously, he himself knows that it is almost impossible to survive in the capital.
Wei Tai nodded: "Ke Gong is very capable. We all wanted to keep him before, but we had no good excuse. It just so happens that neither Yin Gong nor I want to do this kind of thing, so just leave it to him, and forget it. If the Dongchuang Incident happens in the future, your Majesty will find someone to take the blame, and it won’t fall on us.” Not so disgusting anymore.
“Then go ahead and say it.”
Qin Chang warned, "Don't reveal too much to him first. Just let him do as he is told. After collecting the money, we will tell him what happened. From now on, we will leave the contact with Li Zisheng to him." We are fully responsible, even if we know the cause and effect, we still pretend not to know.”
…
…
Xiao Jing became the scapegoat for no reason.
He himself was still at a loss. The night before, Wei Tai called him over temporarily and arranged an errand for him to meet with Li Zi Province. He would send Li Zi Province out of the palace early the next morning and return home. Mansion, incidentally talked about receiving money.
Xiao Jing was also a well-informed person, but he didn't ask a single word about the origin of this money.
The entrance to the palace.
Li Zisheng smiled and said: "I never expected that it would be Eunuch Xiao who came to me to ask for money. I thought Eunuch Qin would come in person."
Xiao Jing He said in a respectful manner: "Eunuch Qin is busy with court affairs and may not have extra time. It is appropriate for us, young people, to handle such small matters."
"Then... Eunuch Xiao knows this. What happened to the silver? ”
Li Zisheng is bent on pulling people into trouble.
You take the money I got from selling my official position as you please. Why don’t you even have anyone to share the responsibility with me?
How chilling!
At this time, Li Zisheng also saw that Qin Chang was not responsible at all, and he knew very well why Qin Chang now occupied the position of the eunuch of the Chief of Ceremonies, but he still did not get the emperor's full respect. Trust - This kind of person cares too much about whether his feathers are clean or not.
The emperor needs people to stand up and help him take responsibility at any time. As slaves, Tan Chang and Wei Tai just hide behind. What would you think if you said you were the master?
Xiao Jing shook his head and said, "I don't want to ask too much."
"Actually... we should still ask."
Li Zisheng sighed quietly, "But since Eunuch Xiao doesn't want to hear it, , let’s wait until next time.”
Xiao Jing breathed a long sigh of relief.
He is not a fool. When he knew that he was going to receive the money from Li Zisheng, he knew that it was all stolen money. As for how it came from, he didn't care at all. He just wanted to complete the errand and go back to deliver it early. .
The two of them continued to walk towards the carriage. Li Zisheng suddenly stopped, turned his head and asked: "Eunuch Xiao, I am not very familiar with the affairs of the inner palace today. Can you tell me who is in charge of the construction of the inner palace now?" ?”
“This…”
Xiao Jing frowned and thought for a while before saying, “I don’t know for sure. Logically speaking, the internal officer should be in charge.”
Li Zi said: "But why did I hear that the recent affairs related to the construction of the inner palace have been taken care of by Liang Fangliang's father-in-law?"
Xiao Jing smiled and said: "You may not know, Many matters in the inner government are actually led by the Royal Horse Supervisor.”
Li Zisheng nodded slightly: "I see. This is not good. Concentrating power in the hands of one person can easily lead to problems. Okay, that's it, let's go and get things done first."
… …
……
Capital, southern suburbs.
Zhang Luan and his son rode a carriage out of the city and headed south along the avenue, as if out spring, slowly and leisurely, so uncomfortable.
The Zhang family's convoy of four carriages finally stopped at the foot of a mountain. After the father and son got off the car, surrounded by their servants, they walked towards the Buddhist temple under construction on the mountainside in front.
Zhang Heling had long been attracted by the excitement on the mountain. He took Chang Shun and two servants and ran towards the crowd burning incense and praying behind Wanhe Temple.
"You are not old, so don't run around. It would be bad if you were regarded as a street gangster and went to the mountains to see the big girl and the little daughter-in-law."
Zhang Luan reminded everyone. son.
It was already the end of March, and the Buddha Bathing Festival on the eighth day of April was not far away.
Going to Buddhist temples to burn incense has become a must-do course for ordinary people in the capital by the middle of the Ming Dynasty. Even if many people do not believe in Buddhism, they will engage in some Buddhist-related worship activities on this day.
Zhang Luan pointed at the crowd of Wuyang Wuyang on the mountain and said with disdain: "Look, these are people who don't usually burn incense and just hold on to the Buddha's feet temporarily. Look at my father, he is a pious man and he never does that. I don’t respect ghosts and gods, so I am so calm and unhurried.”
Zhang Yanling said with a smile: “Dad, isn’t it because my mother believes in Buddhism that you follow her? Why is it not good to believe in Buddhism? Why did you lie in front of the Buddha today if you told me and my eldest brother that you are silent and blasphemous? ”
Zhang Luan rolled his eyes at his younger son and stopped arguing with him to avoid being upset in vain.
Then Zhang Luan looked at the surrounding environment and sighed: "This place in the capital is different from other places. The incense in any Buddhist temple is so strong. Gee, look at this incense... There is a lot of income in a year, even in Buddhist temples He is still practicing at this age. If I were the abbot of this temple, I would definitely change the Buddha's body into gold every year."
Zhang Yanling asked mysteriously: "Dad, do you know why this temple is so popular. "?"
"Why?"
Zhang Luan looked at his son curiously.
Zhang Yanling said with a smile: "Because the Queen Mother has come to Wanhe Temple several times to offer incense in the past few years, and this year the Queen Mother is going to have a badge. It is very likely that she will also visit this place in person on the Buddha Bathing Festival, and ordinary people will be here on that day. Those who are not qualified to come and burn incense want to get ahead and feel noble.”
Zhang Luan said in surprise: "You kid, you know a lot."
Zhang Yanling pointed to the Buddhist temple under construction and said: "The building over there was built with money from the inner government. Someone is responsible for supervising the work, and the Ministry of Works will send people to check from time to time. Just to repair such a temple will cost up to 20,000 taels, which is not cheap.”
“Really?” >
Zhang Luan frowned and asked, "I heard that building a big house in the city can be completed within one thousand taels. Building a Buddhist temple, which is just a few auxiliary buildings and not very grand, costs 20,000 yuan. Two taels of silver? Or the emperor is rich..."
Zhang Yanling said with a smile: "Dad, you don't understand the secrets at all. The court allocated 20,000 taels of silver, and the person responsible for building the Buddhist temple still has I don’t know the exact amount of money raised from the public, but I heard that there are many people who responded, and after a certain amount is raised, it can be written on the Buddha’s certificate and hung next to the gold in the back hall of Wanhe Temple.”
"How can such a good thing happen? How much money can you donate to get your name?"
When Zhang Luan heard this, he really spent a small amount of money to do big things, especially since the Zhang family also believes in Buddhism. He and his wife have not been on good terms recently. It's so harmonious. If I donate some money, I can write the family's name on it, and tell my wife when I go back, then Jin will go crazy with joy?
Zhang Yanling said: "Dad, don't worry. If you donate this money, there is a high probability that it will be used for personal gain, and it will not be used to repair the Buddhist temple at all... Let's put it this way, in fact, this Buddhist temple needs to be repaired. , four thousand taels of silver are useless.”
“What?”
Zhang Luan was completely confused when he heard this.
"Dad, let's not talk about anything else. Let's go take a look first and finish burning the incense. Then we can explain to mother when we get back. After we get back, I will explain the situation to you in detail."
Zhang Yanling seemed to be deliberately trying to keep things secret, dragging her old father to Wanhe Temple for an on-the-spot investigation.
(End of this chapter)