The morning bell is leisurely and the sky is gloomy.
I woke up a little later than usual, but I still insisted on practicing. I looked up at the sky from the bathroom and felt a little worried. Tomorrow is the day of the military parade, so it’s not a big deal if it’s cloudy. Don’t let it rain heavily.
That would be ugly.
After breakfast, Chang Yu hurried into the palace. It was not that Emperor Chongzhen summoned him, but that he had other matters to deal with, which was better than meeting a few old ministers in the palace.
Chang Yu started out as an unknown little eunuch and became the governor of Dongchang in just a few months. He was extremely powerful. The process was quite bloody. He first gained some fame with fists and kicks, and then he was valued by the prince, and then he started to do things in the palace.
Betting on boxing matches in the casino.
That is to say, during the boxing match, although he was just a little eunuch with no power, he used the power of the prince to draw the bosses of the twenty-four yamen in the palace together with the lure of profit, and he was able to handle it with ease. The bosses of each yamen saw that
For the sake of the money and the prince's background, he should still be given some dignity.
But ever since Chang Yu left the palace and went to Taiyuan to escort the silver, his life had become a mess. First, he was inexplicably and unexpectedly given the title of admiral of the Dongchang. Moreover, because of his meritorious service in supervising wars and making money, he became a popular bomb in front of Emperor Chongzhen.
Ziji! Today is far different from what it used to be. They cannot compare to it. Even Wang Chengen, who now holds the position of eunuch at the top, has to give him seven points of dignity.
The boxing match in the imperial city's grass field must be held every night. It was the only entertainment activity that the eunuchs and maids could not avoid on weekdays, and the guards on duty also participated.
It's just that Chang Yu no longer looks down on the revenue here. Even the big world outside the front door can make half a month's revenue in one day.
But Chang Yu still has no intention of closing the boxing matches here.
First, the life of eunuchs and maids was too dull and boring. Chang Yu felt the same way, so he left them a place to relax.
Secondly, you can take the opportunity to train the eunuchs in the palace to serve as substitutes for the palace camp.
Since his trip to Taiyuan, Chang Yu has plunged headlong into the army to fight for Emperor Chongzhen. He rarely enters the palace, and even when he does, he comes and goes in a hurry. He rarely has time to interact with the old days like this.
Let's get together.
So I took advantage of this early morning and went to the palace to gather everyone for a meeting. They said it was to reminisce about old times, but in fact, it was to supervise some things.
It was Chang Yu who proposed the military parade. In the past, military parades were usually called for by military generals, with the emperor rarely participating. However, Chang Yu proposed many new tricks. In addition to the Ministry of War, the Governor's Office of the Fifth Army, and the Ministry of Household Affairs, the military parade was fully responsible.
It requires the cooperation of all the yamen in the palace, so a group of powerful supervisors are busy, and they all do it themselves if they are worried about trouble.
This meeting was at Yumajian Yamen.
The Yuma Jian is the most powerful of the twenty-four yamen, except the Li Jian, because it is in charge of the fighting chickens and Tengxiang Four Guards of the emperor's twenty-six personal guards.
Chang Yu is still the same Chang Yu, but the little eunuch is no longer the same little eunuch. In the Yumajian Yamen, more than ten officials from the Yamen gathered around him and congratulated him endlessly, without any trace of their former high profile.
Chang Yu turned his hand in a circle and asked everyone to sit down. These people all have shares in Caolanchang Casino. They are considered to be in the same boat. There is no need to cover up what they say. He goes straight to the topic: "How much money have you earned in these few months?"
Do you make enough money?"
"I can't hold on and I can't starve. Ever since the factory owner left, the business in our hut has been far worse than before. I think the huge profits of dozens or millions a night in the past are gone forever." Wei Dahai, the head of the Royal Horse Supervisor
He said with a smile, and everyone burst into laughter, knowing that he was talking about Chang Yu's plan to trick those nobles.
"Although it's not as good as before, it's not as chilling as Mr. Wei said. The new house you bought in Iron Lion Hutong last month is worth a lot of money!" Chang Yu chuckled and turned the lid of the tea cup in his hand.
Wei Dahai's expression was startled: "Uh, Mr. Factory..."
"I heard that he married three concubines at once, and there were more than ten people living in the palace. Mr. Wei, you should pay more attention to your body and bones since you are not young..." Chang Yu sighed, everyone laughed, and Wei Dahai looked a little embarrassed.
, sighing in his heart, he really is the head of Dongchang, he knows everything.
"Hey, our family... is a joke to the factory owner." Wei Dahai smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Our family has a lot of money these days, but in Caolanchang, we all get what we get and don't get involved in the factory owner's share.
If you don’t believe me, you can ask someone to check it.”
Chang Yu waved his hand: "The 30% of our family's shares and the prince's 20% have now been transferred to Dongchang's name. If we want to investigate, it will be investigated by them. We have so many family affairs that we don't care about it. Besides, we are all old friends. We
I trust you so much that I won’t cause any embarrassment because of some sesame seeds.”
Mao Daxiang, the head of the Huanyi Bureau, laughed: "I heard that the Qianmen Big World is making a lot of money every day, so the factory boss will certainly look down on the two eggs in our thatched nest."
"Hey, Mr. Mao, you can't say that. Ant legs are also meat. Now that our family is in charge of Dongchang, thousands of people have to eat, and every breath costs money." Chang Yu sighed,
After a while, he said: "Mr. Mao, I heard that the dyeing shop in Qiantang Hutong of Renshoufang belongs to you. It is close to Dongchang Yamen. If you have any trouble, just come and say hello."
Um... Mao Daxiang's face was extremely embarrassed, and everyone understood that the little eunuch with pigtails was holding on to all the things he did in private.
"Eunuch Chang, I'm sorry that you are not here to meet old friends today, but to fight against the autumn wind." Wei Dahai chuckled. They are familiar with Chang Yu and know the habits of this little eunuch.
Who are you.
Chang Yu sighed: "Money is tight lately!"
"If you are short of money, go ask the emperor for it. Your Dongchang is a serious field office. Now the emperor has plenty of money. Why would Eunuch Chang follow us...right?" Wang Dehua grimaced, and everyone agreed.
"The emperor has a lot of money?" Chang Yu curled his lips and said: "You guys have really high vision. You have confiscated tens of millions of dollars from homes in Shanxi. It sounds like a lot at first, but you don't want to think about how many holes have to be filled in the Ming Dynasty. Where are the holes?
Money is needed, drought, locust plagues, plague, wars in the five northern provinces have resulted in loss of harvests, wars are raging in the south of the Yangtze River, and there is a shortage of food and wages. Regardless of whether there is a war or not, people are asking for money."
"Yes... Eunuch Chang, just tell me how much you are prepared to extract from us old men." Wei Dahai is also a bachelor.
Ahem, Chang Yu seemed a little embarrassed when he said this: "Look at what Mr. Wei said, our family is actually doing good deeds for you."
Months of war have wreaked havoc on the five northern provinces, leaving countless families with their families broken up and their families separated. As the imperial capital, the capital was the first choice for refugees. At most, nearly 100,000 refugees relied on it.
Although many people returned to their hometowns to resume farming after the war, there were still many refugees living here, including a large number of orphans, and Chang Yu wanted to open an orphanage.
"But the imperial court has already set up almshouses everywhere..." Wang Dehua raised his eyebrows and said, "Why should we..."
"In the almshouse, there are too many monks and not enough gruel, and everyone is there. Do you think the children can get enough to eat in there and survive?" Chang Yu shook his head gently: "What our family is going to do is a special care center for orphans.
The Almshouse not only has to raise them, but also teach them literacy and crafts. Dear father-in-law, we are also poor people, so let’s accumulate some blessings for the next life.”
These words have reached the hearts of everyone. Most eunuchs believe in Buddhism and Taoism and believe in the afterlife. All eunuchs with a little money will build temples to accumulate virtue.
Everyone nodded: "How much money will you get? Eunuch Chang will tell you the number, and we will make do with it."
"It's not a small number, but it's not huge either. How about one hundred thousand per person?" Chang Yu said softly. Wei Dahai and others looked at each other, then stood up and went to Chang Yu, cupping their hands and saying, "Eunuch Chang, please kill us."
Pfft... As for what, Chang Yu choked: "Just a joke, just a joke, just say zero more, each of you will donate ten thousand taels of silver to build a hospital in the western suburbs."
Wei Dahai and others were relieved. Although ten thousand taels was a lot, since the young eunuchs had opened their mouths and were doing good deeds, they could squeeze it out.
So everyone asked for more details, and then reported to Chang Yu the progress of the tasks at hand to ensure that they would not miss the ceremony tomorrow. After chatting some more, Chang Yu said goodbye and left. He had other things to be busy with.