Looking at this middle-aged eunuch who had just passed his thirties, Zhu Youxiao felt a lot in his heart.
His talents and learning are not much worse than those of Jinshi, and are even much better than some of them. Just by relying on his determination, he can defeat a large number of so-called great scholars. Unfortunately, he is only an eunuch.
"Liu Shimin, although you are just an inconspicuous little eunuch in the inner house, I am always good at judging people. I am announcing your arrival today because I want you to take on important responsibilities."
"I'm going to reopen the factory, and I need to find someone close to me to take charge of it. What do you think?"
Zhu Youxiao didn't want to test Liu Shimin's loyalty. There was no doubt about Liu Shimin's loyalty, and his abilities could be seen from a single book.
When Liu Shimin heard that the emperor wanted him to be the admiral of the inner factory, he was not secretly happy like Chao Fu and Wei Zhongxian, but he quickly kowtowed and said:
"Long live Lord, please forgive me for not being able to obey. It's not that I don't want to serve Lord Long Live faithfully. I have never taken care of anyone since I entered the palace. I'm afraid that I might miss the important thing of Lord Long live. Otherwise, even if I have a hundred heads, I won't be able to forgive you enough."
ah."
Although Liu Shimin found a high-sounding reason, Zhu Youxiao still heard the underlying meaning behind his words. He did not say that he was incompetent, but that his status had been extremely low since he entered the palace.
If Zhu Youxiao rashly promotes and appoints someone out of the ordinary, a large number of eunuchs will be dissatisfied. They will be jealous and frame him in order to gain the upper hand.
Just like Wang Zhi during the Chenghua period, when he offended the public, no one in or outside the palace except the emperor wanted to kill him.
Even Huaien, the chief eunuch in charge of the ceremonial department, was deeply afraid and would not hesitate to betray the emperor and collude with civil servants to deal with Wang Zhi.
Zhu Youxiao flicked his sleeves and said in a deep voice:
"You don't have to keep silent to me. The world belongs to me. Could it be that if I want to use someone personally, I have to issue an edict to the world first?"
"I can use whoever I want. Do I have to look at other people's eyes to do things?"
Hearing the emperor's slightly angry tone, Liu Shimin didn't dare to raise his head at all, knelt on the ground and said:
"Long live the power of God, I dare not obey, but I am just a little eunuch. How can I suddenly become an admiral and minister in charge of important affairs? The people below will not obey. I hope that long live the Lord will show you!"
Although Zhu Youxiao knew that the water in the palace was deep, he still could not imagine that a veteran eunuch who had been in the palace for more than 20 years would be so timid.
Although Liu Shimin is an upright person and an extremely talented person, his courage is far inferior to that of a scoundrel like Wei Zhongxian.
He vaguely remembered how surprised Wei Zhongxian was that night, and he agreed without hesitation.
It seems that people who can become celebrities in future generations, especially eunuchs in the inner palace, can't do it without some skills.
Although Zhu Youxiao valued Liu Shimin, he looked down upon his fearful expression even more. He raised his voice a few decibels and said:
"When I employ people, I always only look at the person, regardless of their origin, and only for their ability, regardless of their status."
"Wei Zhongxian was worse than you a few months ago. At least you were still the Supervisor of Ceremonies and entered the inner chamber. At that time, he was just a small role serving tea and water."
"Do you think you are not as good as Wei Zhongxian?"
Now that the words have come to this, Liu Shimin has no reason to refuse anymore. Otherwise, wouldn't it be like slapping the emperor in the face in public?
I had to bite the bullet and said:
"Long live the Lord's orders, and I shall obey them!"
"You must be very unfamiliar with the matter of the inner factory. I will briefly explain to you today the specific responsibilities of the inner factory from now on!"
"Not only have I reopened the inner factory, I have also reestablished the west factory. I have completely handed over the responsibility of the civil affairs court to the west factory and Jin Yiwei, so the inner factory does not need to interfere."
"You go to the Royal Horse Guards to select twenty capable eunuchs, and when you go to the Imperial Mansion with my order, you select thirty eunuchs as well. Select twenty people from among the imperial guards, who will be your inner factory team."
"Now, whether in the private sector or in the officialdom, I have a lot of eyes, but I don't have many eyes in the army. Therefore, this inner factory will look after the army for me from now on, as well as the inner treasury of the palace and my internal funds. I will also do it."
And leave it to your care."
"The first thing you should do is to check all the treasures and items in the inner treasury, flip through the books one by one, and report everything that is inexplicable to me, even a broken porcelain bowl!
"
Although the inner treasury is located in the palace hall, it is not safe at all. There have been several so-called fires, and there are inexplicably missing items in the inner treasury every year.
This problem was not only discovered by Zhu Youxiao, but all emperors of the past dynasties were aware of it, but they just ignored it.
But Zhu Youxiao is not someone who just sits idly by. After all, this is his family property, but it is treated like a public welfare fund. You take some today and I will take some tomorrow, but I have raised them well.
"Slave understands!"
Zhu Youxiao stood up again and said:
"There are also people in the army, especially in the border army, who must be placed in the inner factory. It is best to arrange them next to those generals and pay close attention!"
"I will dispatch a few Jin Yiwei from the Yulin Army Law Enforcement Team to assist you when the time comes. Everything else is up to you. I hope you will not disappoint me!"
Liu Shimin kowtowed again and said:
"Since I have received an important mission, I must do my best. Long live my lord, please rest assured!"
Zhu Youxiao did not respond. He stared at the kneeling eunuch below and began to think deeply. After a long while, he waved in a low voice and said:
"Come closer!"
Liu Shimin lowered his head and walked quickly towards the emperor with anxiety.
When he arrived at the emperor's side, he heard Zhu Youxiao say:
"My imperial brother Zhu Youjian must also have people around him. Every half month, he must report to me his recent situation, who he has contacted, what books he has read, and his usual words and deeds. Not a single detail can be left out.
Pass."
After hearing this, Liu Shimin broke into a cold sweat, his face was full of panic, and his mouth felt dry. He only had one question in his mind now, what happened to Long Live Lord?
Long live such a promising emperor, now he is jealous of his own brother?
If this spreads out, it will definitely cause an uproar throughout the world, and Long Live the Lord will be pushed to the forefront, which is extremely disadvantageous.
Internal strife within the royal family has been a taboo in all dynasties, but in the Ming Dynasty, there were almost no such things. The only two incidents were Chengzu's Fengtian Jingnan and Yingzong's coup.
The occurrence of these two incidents directly affected the national destiny and national policies of the Ming Dynasty, which can be said to be a waste of energy and blood.
After a while, Liu Shimin said with a slight trembling:
"My slave obeys the order!"
Seeing his worried look, Zhu Youxiao said easily:
"Don't think too much. I'm just thinking about the country and the country of the Ming Dynasty. Just keep an eye on it."
The death of Emperor Tianqi has always been a mystery in history. Some say he was killed by civil servants, and some say he really fell into the water and died of illness. But they have never doubted the vested interest, Emperor Chongzhen. Is he really that innocent?