Ming Dynasty: Starting from Liaodong Jiangmen

Chapter 50 Wang Chengen’s Thoughts

The Si Li Jian was one of the "Twelve Supervisors" in the inner court of the Ming Dynasty who managed eunuchs and palace affairs. It had four divisions and eight bureaus, collectively known as the "24 Yamen". It was also the head of the 24 Yamen in the inner court, and was called the Imperial City at the time. The first department was placed in the 17th year of Hongwu, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty.

Except for the office of the Huanyi Bureau, which was responsible for cleaning the clothes and toilets of the inner court, located outside the Imperial City, the other 23 yamen were all located within the Imperial City.

In the early days of Zhu Yuanzhang's accession to the throne, there were about a hundred people in each supervisory bureau. By the middle and late Ming Dynasty, most supervisory bureaus stationed directly subordinate eunuchs in various provinces, prefectures and counties to be in charge of business related to the palace's demands, and to monitor the situation of local officials and report to the inner court.

When Wei Zhongxian, the "[-]-year-old" Emperor of Tianqi, came to power, the number of eunuchs stationed in various places in the name of Emperor Tianqi once reached tens of thousands, so much so that a man in Suzhou scolded Quan and eunuchs, and played Tianting every three days. Five days later, Immediately, Fa Ti rides the lock and takes it.

In addition to the palm seal, the Si Li Jian also has four eunuchs with pens, which are commonly known as the four great eunuchs of the inner court. These four people are generally the actual people in charge of the Si Li Jian, and they must be the most famous eunuchs in the inner court. .

Now Che Tianxiang has added the fourth title. The person he came to visit was not the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, but the first title Wang Chengen.

Wang Chengen has been the steward of Prince Xin's Mansion for more than ten years since Emperor Chongzhen was still King Xin. Two years ago, when Prince Chongzhen succeeded to the throne, he naturally became the well-deserved steward of the inner court.

Although he was still subordinate to the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, Wang Chengen was actually the one who really held the power in the inner court.

Wang Chengen didn't seem surprised when he heard that someone was looking for him. He still looked at the memorial with his head down, and waited until Xiaohuangmen came to report three times before he responded lightly.

"It must be Che Tianxiang, tell him to come in."

As soon as Che Tianxiang entered the door, he burst into tears.

"Save me grace!"

After Wang Chengen read this memorial, he handed it to the young eunuch beside him, picked up the other one and read it for a while.

"what happened?"

Che Tianxiang was already crying bitterly, his face was red, and he looked very pitiful.

"Someone wants to deal with me, it's Gongshun Hou Wu Weiying and his gang!"

Wang Chengen looked a little surprised, raised his head and asked, "No way? Wu Weiying doesn't know that you are from the governor?"

After the fall of Wei Zhongxian, Emperor Chongzhen appointed Wang Chengen as the first admiral to oversee Dongchang, so he called himself the governor in front of his subordinates.

Che Tianxiang rolled his eyes, stood up and sat aside.

"I know!"

"It is precisely because they know that they want to deal with me, their godson!"

Wang Chengen laughed loudly, as if he didn't take Wu Weiying and his group seriously. He also knew that Xiao Jiujiu was in Che Tianxiang's heart. He raised his hand to comfort Xiao Huangmen and motioned for Xiao Huangmen to bring tea. Then he stood up, put his hands behind his back, and walked down slowly. Sit down.

"Tell me slowly how Wu Weiying dealt with you?"

Che Tianxiang seemed like a wronged child, sobbing constantly.

"My godson, I received His Majesty's holy grace and was appointed as the fourth admiral of the capital camp. I also knew that the water in the capital camp was deep, so I did not go to my post in the past few days, nor did I go to see Li Shunzu, but Wu Weiying still refused to let me go. !”

"Today when I came to the Supervisor of Ceremonies to sit in my office, my godson learned from the young eunuch Gao Qiqian that the obedient Marquis Wu Weiying and the Linzhun Marquis Li Hongji jointly submitted a report saying that as my godson, as the governor of the capital camp, I had corruptly transferred to Taipu Temple. War horses and food for the Beijing camp."

"This is completely nonsense! Enxiang knows that my godson has not yet gone to Beijing to take up his post. Why are you talking about being greedy for war horses and food?"

"Didn't His Majesty agree to allocate the horses and grain from Taipu Temple to the Liao army? Why were they suddenly transferred to the Beijing camp? My godson has never known about these things!"

Wang Chengen laughed loudly. He naturally knew that none of this was Che Tianxiang's business.

This time, it was Wu Weiying and Li Shunzu who were secretly competing, and Che Tianxiang was shot while lying at home.

"The grace is still smiling!"

"My godson, I am about to be suppressed by those nobles. I don't want to experience Li Fengxiang's fate again. Please save me!"

Wang Chengen saw that Che Tianxiang was really anxious and scared, so he put away his smile and gave a word of affirmation.He stood up and walked back to the table with his hands behind his back, and said slowly: "Don't worry about this matter. If you want to report the memorandum to the cabinet to your majesty, you need to go through our ceremonial supervisor. My father will pay attention to this matter."

As he said this, Wang Chengen's face changed from his usual tameness and became a little angry.

"As for Gongshun Hou Wu Weiying and Linzhun Hou Li Hongji, they are both from court families with more than 200 years of history. They are not easy to deal with. But don't worry, my father will not let them deal with you like this."

When Che Tianxiang heard these words, he smiled, but he did not dare to relax and kept asking for strategies.

"With these words from Enxiang, my godson will feel relieved!"

"Please give me some guidance, what should I do now?"

The reason why Wang Chengen likes Che Tianxiang is because this boy is obedient.

Unlike ordinary godsons, Che Tianxiang did not secretly engage in any means of fighting for power and gain even when he was in his current position as the leader of the inner court. He did not take up the post for several days after arriving in Beijing, and he was very low-key in thanking guests behind closed doors.

If Che Tianxiang has such thoughts, Wang Chengen still has to protect him once and see how he performs in the future.

If Che Tianxiang arrives at Beijing Camp and chooses to join in the troubles with those nobles like Li Fengxiang, and something goes wrong, Wang Chengen will not be merciful to his godson.

He walked slowly in the Nuan Pavilion, suddenly turned around and said:

"Now that you have been pulled out of this muddy water, you might as well continue to work with Li Shunzu. The Liao army's combat effectiveness is by no means comparable to that of the Beijing camp. This time Sun Chengzong personally takes action, maybe he can regain Zunhua and other places."

"By then, with your military exploits, Wu Weiying and the others won't be able to deal with you."

Che Tianxiang was hesitant and full of doubts.

"In the past, the battle was fought with the capital's back and artillery support from the capital, but now it is the Liao army who takes the initiative to fight in the field with Dongnu. Can they really win?"

Wang Chengen laughed loudly, sat back on the table, and sighed.

"In the past, Dong Nu could not be defeated in field battles because the generals did not get along and the supervisors did not know the military affairs."

"Now that you are the supervisor of the capital camp, the general of the Liao army will win this battle with one heart."

"It's just that you need to remember that now you, Li Shunzu, and the Liao army are all grasshoppers on the same rope. When you get to the army, you must not be restricted. You have to work together with Sun Chengzong, Man Gui, Li Shunzu and many other generals. OK!"

Che Tianxiang stood up and nodded quickly.

"Don't worry, Enxiang, my godson has remembered it!"

"Now take Tiqi out of the capital and go to the Liao army to supervise the capital camp to prevent Wu Weiying and others from causing trouble again!"

Wang Chengen nodded and watched him leave.

There was a hint of light in his eyes.

This time sending Che Tianxiang out to supervise the army was also a test for his godson.

Many of the eunuchs promoted by Wang Chengen to supervise the army pretended to be obedient in the inner court. Once they arrived in the army, they showed their ugly appearance. They competed with the generals for power and acted as constraints, which in turn made things more corrupt.

If Che Tianxiang can be of one heart and mind with the general of the Liao army this time, it would not be a bad idea to send him to Liaodong as a supervisor in the future to help the Liao affairs.

In fact, Wang Chengen's thoughts were no longer in the small capital. He was thinking about the war in Liaodong, thousands of miles away, and the recent popular uprising in Shaanxi.

But as an eunuch, he followed a completely different path from Wei Zhongxian. He could only be the shadow of Emperor Chongzhen, so there was really not much he could do.

Looking at the sealed report in his hand, Wang Chengen's eyes flashed with appreciation, he smiled and murmured:
"Li Shunzu, Li Shunzu, how many more surprises can you bring to our family?"

(End of this chapter)