Rise From the Humble

When Zhu Ping'an and Liu Dadao rushed to Xiyuan on horseback, the sky was still dark and the palace gate had not yet been opened.

However, the open space more than a hundred meters outside the palace gate is very lively and brightly lit. Vendors selling liver soup, rice rolls, steamed buns, rice porridge and other snacks are greeting you. From time to time, you can see officials, housekeepers, chief attendants, etc. Visiting the stalls is like a full-fledged morning market.

Fortunately, this was in the Ming Dynasty. If it were in modern times, these vendors would have been eliminated by the urban management, the world's number one armed force.

After Emperor Jiajing moved to Xiyuan, the political center of the Ming Dynasty naturally moved from the Forbidden City to Xiyuan.

Who dares to be late under the eyes of the emperor? In order to rush for time, many officials slandered getting up and had no time to have breakfast. But officials are people too, and they also need to have breakfast, so vendors who saw business opportunities spontaneously formed a morning market here.

"Okay, I'll wait here to enter the palace. You can go have breakfast."

Zhu Pingan got off his horse, took a dime of silver from his purse and handed it to Liu Mu, asking them to go to the morning market for breakfast.

"No need, sir. A few days ago, the young lady asked the housekeeper to pay us monthly money in advance. Each of us is worth one tael or more." Li Dadao smiled and shook his head. When he mentioned the monthly money, his face was full of satisfaction.

The young lady he was talking about was naturally Li Shu. The monthly money was in the form of a subsidy. It was pocket money given to the upper, middle and lower family members according to their status every month. It was not wages. They also had other wages. This was calculated separately. of.

More than one tael of silver, which is comparable to the monthly payment of a first-class girl.

More than one tael of silver is just pocket money, which is not a small amount for Liu Dadao and the others.

At nine o'clock, a bell rang from Xiyuan, and then the door of Xiyuan opened.

Zhu Pingan handed over the dark horse to Liu Mu and the others, and once again told them to finish their breakfast at the morning market before returning home.

After giving instructions, Zhu Ping'an followed several officials into Xiyuan.

"My lord, please stay."

As soon as Zhu Ping'an entered Xiyuan, he was stopped by the guards of Xiyuan.

Zhu Pingan had never been to Xiyuan except during the palace examination and when he was summoned twice by Emperor Jiajing. When the guards of Xiyuan saw Zhu Pingan, out of consideration of their duties, they politely stopped Zhu Pingan.

"Oh, I am Zhu Ping'an, the Imperial Academy's Attendant and Secretary of the Cabinet. I have been ordered by the Holy Spirit to serve as Secretary of the Cabinet from today onwards."

Zhu Pingan stopped, thought for a moment and figured out what was going on, then turned around and explained to the guard with a smile.

"Haha, Master Zhu is here, please sign in here."

At this moment, a little eunuch in tea camel clothes came over, greeted Zhu Ping'an with a smile, and then explained to the guards.

With the eunuchs in the palace as guarantee, there would be no falsehood. The guard at the door clasped his fists and apologized to Zhu Ping'an before letting him go.

"The captain has fulfilled his duties, and there is nothing wrong with him." Zhu Ping'an returned the salute to the guards with his hands in hand.

After entering the palace gate, Zhu Ping'an once again thanked the young eunuch in tea camel clothes, "Thank you so much for the father-in-law's rescue. I'm sorry for Ping'an's blindness. I wonder who your father-in-law is?"

"Master Zhu is very polite. If you don't mind, Master Zhu can call me Xiao Caozi. Master Zhu doesn't know the Zajia family, but the Zajia family has admired Master Zhu for a long time." Xiao Caozi, the eunuch in tea camel uniform, said with a smile, looking familiar. look.

"It turns out it's Eunuch Cao. I'm glad to meet you." Zhu Pingan replied with a smile, but he was full of confusion. Apart from Feng Bao, he really didn't know any other servants in the palace, and this little eunuch was too much. Enthusiastic.

"The Zajia family used to work in the Clothing Bureau. Thanks to Eunuch Feng's photo, he is now transferred to the palace gate supervisor. The Zajia family often hears Eunuch Feng mention Mr. Zhu, and Eunuch Feng has the highest regard for Mr. Zhu." Xiao Caozi, the eunuch in tea camel clothes, laughed. He smiled and explained to Zhu Pingan.

Oh, it turned out to be Feng Bao's small team. Zhu Ping'an suddenly realized after listening to the little eunuch's explanation.

The palace eunuch department of the Ming Dynasty mainly consisted of twelve supervisors, four divisions, and eight bureaus, namely, Si Li, Nai Guan, Yu Yong, Si Shi, Yu Ma, Shen Guan, Shang Shan, Shang Bao, Yin Shou, Zhidian, Shang Yi, and Duzhi. The second prison; the four departments including Xixin, Bells and Drums, Baochao, and Huntang; the eight departments including military warfare, silver work, clothing, scarves and hats, needlework, internal weaving and dyeing, wine vinegar noodles, and Siyuan. The above departments are also It is commonly known as the Twenty-Four Yamen.

The Department of Clothes is responsible for providing laundry services to the palace masters. It is the most difficult department among the twenty-four yamen. It is also the only eunuch agency among the twenty-four yamen that is not in the palace. It is mainly composed of convicted and retired eunuchs and It can be said that serving as an unpopular palace servant is hard work and has no future.

The Palace Gate Supervisor is a specially assigned position, responsible for registering officials who join Xiyuan, supervising the officials' work and get off work, and is equivalent to a disciplinary committee member. The Ming Dynasty kept a close eye on officials who joined Xiyuan. If an official left early due to official duties, the reason for leaving early must be informed to the eunuch and registered for verification. Because of this, even high-ranking cabinet ministers are polite to palace gates and prison gates.

Therefore, the prison gate is a fat job with a bright future.

It is understandable that Xiao Caozi was transferred from the Huanyi Bureau to the Palace Gate Supervisor and was grateful to Feng Bao.

And Feng Baoneng transferred Xiao Caozi from the Huanyi Bureau to the Palace Gate Supervisor, which shows that he has established a firm foothold in the palace and has begun to develop his own team.

After the greetings, Eunuch Cao led Zhu Pingan to the sign-in desk, and Zhu Pingan wrote his name on the sign-in book.

"Mr. Zhu, due to our responsibilities, it is inconvenient for the Zajia family to leave. However, Eunuch Feng has already told us that Mr. Zhu will be led by Eunuch Zhang to report to the cabinet office of Wuyi Hall." Eunuch Cao finished signing in Zhu Ping'an and handed over a The little eunuch in gray introduced him to Zhu Pingan.

"Thank you Eunuch Feng and Eunuch Cao for taking the trouble. I'll leave it to Eunuch Zhang." Zhu Ping'an thanked him and stuffed the red envelopes that Li Shu had wrapped in advance into the sleeves of Eunuch Cao and Eunuch Zhang without leaving a trace.

"Master Zhu, you're welcome. Just call me Xiao Zhangzi. Master Zhu, please go this way." Eunuch Zhang, the little eunuch in gray, led the way.

Xiyuan covers a large area, including the current Zhongnanhai, Beihai Park, and the National Library of Literature and Art, as well as the Jin'ao Yuqiao Bridge. The place where Zhu Pingan entered was the south gate, and Wuyi Hall, where the Cabinet Office is located, was east of Zuoye Gate. It was a long way away, and Zhu Pingan was not qualified to ride a horse or sedan, so he could only rely on his legs.

"Further forward, after passing the Yuxi Palace and the Shenyingxuan Palace, and then passing the Binfeng Pavilion, you can see a rice field. In front of the rice field is the Wuyi Palace." Eunuch Zhang led the way and gave Zhu Pingan introduced.

Zhu Ping'an looked in the direction of Eunuch Zhang's finger. Among the rows of palace auxiliary halls in front of him, there was no sign of Wuyi Hall at all.

After walking for another quarter of an hour, or about 15 minutes, Zhu Ping'an saw the rice field that Eunuch Zhang had mentioned. The morning breeze blew through the green rice fields, creating waves of green waves.

This rice field should be the place where Emperor Jiajing encouraged farmers to grow mulberry trees. Zhu Pingan and Zhu Pingan stopped in front of the rice field and looked at it for a while.