My life skills in Daming Liver

Ever since Jiajing returned to Luan Capital from Xi'an, he has been living in Yuxi Palace.

But the Yuxi Palace where Jiajing lives now is completely different from the Yuxi Palace where he lived when he was in power.

Yuxi Palace was originally a normal palace, but it was converted into a place for Taoism by Jiajing.

Jiajing practiced Taoism in Yuxi Palace, so he also handled state affairs in Yuxi Palace.

From Xia Yan to Yan Song, and then to Xu Jie behind them, they all knelt and worshiped outside the main hall of Yuxi Palace, and they all waited here for the unpredictable emperor's will.

When Jiajing was in power, he regarded the entire world as his private property and all civil and military officials as his slaves.

Even powerful officials like Yan Song and his son were trembling with fear when facing Emperor Jiajing.

The imperial power at that time was a terrifying monster.

But when Su Ze broke through the mask of imperial power, and when the new southeastern army landed in Dagu and quickly attacked the capital, the once mighty imperial power suddenly collapsed. At this time, people all over the world discovered that those who sat on the throne were no more than He's an ordinary person.

Emperors can also be afraid and run away. It turns out that emperors are just like ordinary people.

Later, Long Qing ascended the throne in Datong, and Jiajing, who had lost all power, announced his abdication. By this time, Jiajing's prestige had dropped to the lowest level.

After Jiajing returned to the capital, he was placed in Yuxi Palace.

The curtains in the middle layers of Yuxi Palace were removed, leaving only the imperial curtain in the center of the hall and the copper futon used for monastic purposes.

The year before last, all the windows in Yuxi Palace were replaced with transparent glass. Eunuchs were standing around Yuxi Palace, and they could see everything in Yuxi Palace at any time.

Jiajing's every move, which ministers he met, and whom he spoke to were all recorded.

At first, it was Long Qing who ordered the eunuchs in the palace to do this, and then after Long Qing's storm, it was Zhang Juzheng who ordered the eunuchs to do this.

Even when Long Qing died and Emperor Wanli was young, no one thought that there was still this emperor in the palace.

No one wants to have another master above them.

After Long Qing's death, Jiajing's health also deteriorated.

After all, this year's Emperor Jiajing is already sixty-one years old. Judging from his career as Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he is already considered a long-lived person.

Even in terms of the time in power, Jiajing was the emperor who had the longest control over the government.

On the way to Xi'an, Jiajing also lost his vitality and energy. Now he is an old man.

The person serving Jiajing was still Huang Jin. This old servant accompanied the old emperor respectfully and professionally, which was considered to be the few dignity left to Jiajing in this palace.

However, Huang Jin is already very old, and his once clever hands and feet are no longer convenient. Moreover, the area of ​​Yuxi Palace is too large, and now the royal family's expenses are constantly being reduced, so it is impossible to burn everything in the palace as before. brazier.

Therefore, only the center of Yuxi Palace still had a charcoal stove burning, while other places were cold and drafty.

Huang Jin rubbed his hands. After returning to the capital from Xi'an, Jiajing always felt that someone was trying to kill him, so he couldn't sleep with anyone around him.

But now his health is not good and he often wakes up at night.

Therefore, Huang Jin could not get too close or too far away. He could only hide in a corner of Yuxi Palace near the gate and make a bed to wait for Jiajing's temporary call.

But tonight Jiajing took the tranquilizing medicine prescribed by the imperial doctor and slept peacefully. It was also a rare peaceful night for Huang Jin.

Tomorrow is the Lantern Festival. Huang Jin looked outside the Yuxi Palace and couldn't help but sigh. This year is still the time when Emperor Longqing is mourning, so the Aoshan Lantern Festival cannot be held. This year, the palace is deserted again.

Thinking of the past days, there was always a celebration in the palace every Lantern Festival. The civil servants had to find ways to write good Qingci and send them to the palace. At that time, let alone the imperial power, even the eunuchs who represented the imperial power were all showing off their power. .

But now he is old and is just an old eunuch hiding in Yuxi Palace waiting to die.

"Godfather?"

In a daze, Huang Jin heard someone calling him. He opened his eyes and saw Feng Bao's face.

Huang Jin was a little surprised. Huang Jin had not seen Feng Bao since he talked about "the use of weapons" last time.

Later, Long Qing passed away and rumors spread in the palace, but Huang Jin did not inquire about the situation.

As an old man in the palace, Huang Jin knew about the bloody storm in the palace. He just calmly told Jiajing the news of Long Qing's death and then withdrew.

Jiajing learned about the death of his son, but remained silent for a day and night, and finally never mentioned the topic again.

Later, at Longqing's funeral and Wanli's enthronement ceremony, Jiajing refused to come forward because he was ill. Huang Jin saw that the emperor had aged a bit.

Regarding Feng Bao's appearance, Huang Jin was very calm.

He was very old and could die at any time. He was also a eunuch with nothing, but he looked at Feng Bao calmly.

Feng Bao respectfully saluted Huang Jin, and then said: "Godfather, please forgive me for failing to honor you."

Huang Jin said calmly: "You have shown me the greatest filial piety by allowing me to stay here to serve the Emperor. What else do you need to say to apologize?"

Feng Bao didn't say anything, and Huang Jin added: "I am already dying, and I have nothing to entrust you with after my death. I naturally speak from my heart."

Feng Bao then said: "Godfather, my son came here today to ask you for advice on the future."

Feng Bao described the current situation inside and outside the palace in great detail. After Longqing's death, when Zhang Juzheng was in power, he revised the imperial edict when Longqing died and asked the empress dowagers of the two palaces to hang curtains, which aroused the opposition of Zhang Juzheng, his political ally. liquidation, further confining him to the palace.

After Zhang Juzheng resigned and Li Chunfang came to power, Queen Mother Li began to use her status as Queen Mother to intervene in government affairs, and the Li family and his son began to use their status as relatives to seize power.

Even the palace secrets of Li Wei and his son offering elixirs were told to Huang Jin.

Huang Jin listened very seriously. He did not interrupt Feng Bao's story. After Feng Bao finished speaking, he looked at Huang Jin and said, "Godfather, what should I do with the child to save his life?"

Huang Jin sighed and said, "I knew you were suffering, but I didn't expect you to be suffering so hard. You don't look like a godfather who enjoys happiness."

Feng Bao looked at Huang Jin. The once mellow chief eunuch was now a skinny old man. He actually said that he was a blessed person?

Huang Jin said: "Dad, I have been both prosperous and miserable in my life. In the end, I died either in the Forbidden City or in the Emperor's mausoleum. Isn't this a blessing?"

"On the other hand, if you make one wrong move, you know where you will die."

"Daddy, when I was your age, all I could think about was how to serve the emperor. There was never a moment of confusion every day."

"And you have to think about how to avoid making mistakes every day, how to avoid standing in the wrong team, am I not happier than you?"

Feng Bao looked at Huang Jin and suddenly felt that what he said was right.

Compared to the great eunuchs of that generation, my role as chief eunuch was really frustrating.

Looking at Feng Bao, Huang Jin still gave his own advice.

"I said before that the power of our eunuchs comes from the power of the imperial power. At that time, the imperial power was still there, and you still had room to move."

"Now that the imperial power has declined, you can no longer use this power like us."

Feng Bao nodded repeatedly. After all, Long Qing was elected to the throne by the ministers in Datong, and he was able to remove prime ministers like Gao Gong.

By the time Zhang Juzheng came to power, the imperial power had been severely suppressed.

Today's little emperor is young, and the Queen Mother Li has no skills, so she cannot suppress the ministers at all.

If Li Chunfang was not also a weak prime minister, the imperial power would have declined to the point of disgrace.

Huang Jin said: "Actually, it's not just the imperial power that has declined. After Zhang Juzheng resigned, the authority of the central government also declined. Is this the reason for your fear?"

Feng Bao nodded quickly.

Huang Jin said: "In the past, Zhang Juzheng was in power, and he still had to respect the banner of imperial power. Just like in the late Han Dynasty, even if the general He Jin and the scholars wanted to deal with our senior Shi Changshi, they would not do it at that time. It’s a political struggle.”

"But when the imperial power and the central power are all weakened, and Dong Zhuo comes to Beijing to cause chaos, we eunuchs will have no life at all."

Feng Bao suddenly became enlightened and nodded repeatedly. It turned out that this was the source of his worries.

"Please godfather enlighten me!"

Huang Jin shook his head and said, "There is nothing I can teach you."

"Does the godfather feel that his son is unfilial? My son will ask someone to make a comfortable greenhouse for his godfather in Yuxi Palace!"

Huang Jin shook his head and said, "It's not that I don't want to teach you, it's just that I can't teach you."

"What I have learned and used is how to fight under the imperial power. Then there must be an imperial power first."

“In current terms, what I learned is a way to survive within this stable political framework.”

"This framework can be the imperial power, the power of the prime minister, or the power of the queen mother."

“But without this framework, then I don’t know how to do it.”

Feng Bao's heart dropped.

Seeing Feng Bao like this, Huang Jin said: "But we can get some inspiration from history."

"Now that the imperial power and the central power are declining, you should find more ways to make friends with local powerful factions. If someone like Dong Zhuo comes to Beijing, you can have a good death."

"If it doesn't work out in the end, just go to Southeast."