() An Guiyi was stunned after hearing this. It was the first time he heard someone say that he wanted to talk about life and ideals with himself.
Zhong Jinwei ignored his thoughts and asked directly: "Eunuch An, why did you enter the palace in the first place?"
An Guiyi was silent, as if he was reminiscing. After a while, he replied: "My family is poor and can't live any longer. I am the youngest. My father heard that becoming a eunuch in the palace can relieve the family of corvee work. Dear
My neighbors were also exempted from the corvee, so they pooled their money and sent me in."
"Oh, is that exempt?"
An Guiyi shook his head and did not answer. Zhong Jinwei was surprised: "Is the exemption from corvee a lie? Your father is really serious. He sent you in without asking clearly."
Seeing that Zhong Jinwei had misunderstood, An Guiyi explained, but his voice was a bit low: "It's not false, the court has this law. It's just that after our family entered the palace, we never contacted our family again."
"Why don't you contact your family? They may still need your help."
"I hate it, why did you choose me? Why?" After listening to Zhong Jinwei's words, An Guiyi changed his mood and became excited. He also forgot the name of our family and changed it to me.
Zhong Jinwei listened to An Guiyi's accusation from the bottom of his heart and understood the helplessness and grief contained in it. He couldn't help but be speechless. Yes, no matter what the reason, he was selected to be an eunuch and lost a very important part of his body. No one would be happy.
.
After being quiet for a while, Zhong Jinwei changed the topic to draw An Guiyi's attention and divert his emotions: "What do you want to do in this life?"
An Guiyi knew that it was not good to reveal his emotions in front of Zhong Xingbo, so he restrained himself and replied to Zhong Jinwei: "Many people live in this world just to keep themselves warm and fed."
"You should have no worries about food and warmth, so there's nothing more you want to do?" Zhong Jinwei asked.
An Guiyi really didn't think about this problem. After being fed and clothed, he seemed to be living for the sake of living.
Seeing that An Guiyi didn't answer, Zhong Jinwei changed the topic and asked: "Eunuch An, what do you think your eunuchs usually do?"
An Guiyi didn't know why Uncle Zhongxing asked about such gossip. He replied to Zhong Jinwei: "Individuals have different habits, so their activities are different. There are people in the palace who like beautiful utensils and like to collect them on weekdays; there are people who like to eat delicious food.
People who live in the world take turns cooking and making dinner appointments; there are people who are good at opera and can't get enough of it and support themselves as actors; there are also people who are good at chanting Buddha's name, uphold the Buddhist precepts and specialize in vegetarian food. There are also people who are good at literature and like calligraphy.
.”
"A vegetarian and a lover of calligraphy?" Zhong Jinwei seemed to have never heard of such eunuchs.
An Guiyi saw that Zhong Jinwei didn't believe it, so he gave him an example: "Liu Ruoyu, the imperial eunuch, is usually a vegetarian and recites Buddhism. Gao Shiming, the eunuch of the ceremonial department, is good at calligraphy. Many plaques in the palace are handwritten by him. The one beside the emperor
The eunuch Zheng Zhihui’s eight-part essay was highly appreciated by the emperor.”
"Oh, are all eunuchs so good?" Zhong Jinwei didn't believe it.
An Guiyi hesitated for a moment and then added: "Of course there are also people who like gambling. They gather in groups to fight cocks, watch cards, play chess, dominoes, and Shuanglu."
Zhong Jinwei listened to An Guiyi's story and thought that eunuchs were actually no different from ordinary people. With this idea in mind, if he thought about the famous eunuchs among eunuchs, what they did could really be found among non-eunuchs.
corresponding person.
For example, the recent Wei Zhongxian, who was so powerful that he killed Zhongliang. Whether he was Zhongliang or not, we don't care about it for now. In fact, it was to eliminate dissidents. This kind of thing has been done by qualified civil servants and generals in every dynasty and every generation, and the number of them is far more than that of eunuchs.
Besides, Wei Zhongxian built a shrine and called him "Nine Thousand Years Old". This was done by civil servants to flatter him. If it's disgusting, Pan Ruzhen, the governor of Zhejiang who was the first to do this, is the most disgusting.
It might be a good method for Wei Zhongxian to test his political opponents. Civil servants who are even willing to do such disgusting things can be controlled if their bones are weak.
Of course, eunuchs are definitely different from ordinary people because they are missing that part. But most people are still the same as ordinary people.
When Zhong Jinwei thought of this, he had a deeper understanding of eunuchs. He thought that eunuchs were perverts, which was obviously wrong. He had always been in contact with Wang Chengen and An Guiyi, so he didn't feel that there was anything perverted about them.
"Then what do you usually like to do?" Zhong Jinwei asked An Guiyi.
"Our family likes to read Zheng He's biography." An Guiyi hesitated for a moment, but finally said it.
"Oh, do you like sailing or leaving a name for future generations?" Zhong Jinwei asked further.
"My family is from the northwest, we have never seen the sea, and we don't know how to navigate."
So it turned out that Zhong Jinwei understood that An Guiyi was seeking fame.
"This is very good. You can work in the ceramic factory with peace of mind, lead these craftsmen, and make achievements. I can guarantee you that you will leave your name for future generations like Zheng He." Zhong Jinwei smiled at An Guiyi.
road.
An Guiyi also smiled and suddenly asked Zhong Jinwei: "Uncle Zhongxing, what about you, what is your ideal?"
Zhong Jinwei remembered mentioning his ideals to Emperor Chongzhen, but he didn't want to mention it to An Guiyi anymore, so he changed his words: "Me, I just want to live a happy life, make myself happy and make the people around me happy.
Make the people of Ming Dynasty happy. It doesn’t mean that I am noble, but when I see them happy, I feel happy in my heart.”
"Okay, Mr. Zhongxing has great ambitions, but it sounds easier than it is to do." Xu Guangqi just finished reading the content recorded in his hand, and when he heard Zhong Jinwei's ambition, he expressed his opinion aloud.
When Zhong Jinwei and An Guiyi heard Xu Guangqi's voice, they both stood up and faced Xu Guangqi.
Zhong Jinwei asked first: "Master Xu, you have finished reading, how do you feel?"
Xu Guangqi shook the thick stack of records in his hand and sighed: "These are all good suggestions. Let me see, after improving the new kiln according to these suggestions, the output will be greatly improved."
Speaking of this, Xu Guangqi was a little curious, and he asked Zhong Jinwei: "Uncle Zhongxing, how did you come up with this way of discussing matters? When Xiaguan used to discuss matters with those craftsmen, they would only answer one question after the official asked him.
"
"Haha, because they are afraid of you and your official position, so they dare not say anything for fear of being punished if they say something wrong." Zhong Jinwei explained to Xu Guangqi with a smile.
Xu Guangqi was a little confused, so he asked the doubts in his heart: "Uncle Zhongxing, the officials have explained to them beforehand that the speaker is not guilty of mistakes, but why are there so few of their speeches?"
"Because the level gap between you is there, who knows if you will hold a grudge if I say something wrong." Zhong Jinwei is a person from later generations, and it is clear to onlookers.
"Oh, I see, but why is Zhong Xingbo's method okay?" Xu Guangqi asked humbly.
"That's it. I asked them to interview face to face. We just sat on one side and controlled the topics they discussed. In this way, they couldn't see the two of us and there would be less psychological pressure. Moreover, they
The people you talk to are colleagues with similar status and status, and the psychological pressure is reduced." Zhong Jinwei told Xu Guangqi the advantages of this kind of meeting.
"Also, placing snacks and other snacks can make the atmosphere of the meeting less serious and relax their mood. This is also a measure to encourage them to talk at ease." Zhong Jinwei also explained this detail to Xu Guangqi.
Xu Guang used the hand that was not holding the record, stroked his long beard, and nodded thoughtfully.
In fact, Zhong Jinwei is an easy-going person and is well understood by the ceramic craftsmen. Therefore, it is also a factor that the ceramic craftsmen speak first to stir up the atmosphere.