Hearing Wang An's answer, Xu De nodded and said with a smile, "It's been nine years. That's not a short time!"
Speaking of this, Xu De also fell into memory, "I remember that you were young when you entered the palace, and you were also under Eunuch Feng's tutelage."
"Yes, godfather," Wang An said with a smile, "but Eunuch Feng passed away early."
As for Feng Bao's death, Xu De was not willing to talk about it at all, so he directly changed the topic, "Later, you followed me and served me wholeheartedly all these years. You never made any mistakes. That's very good!"
Wang An hurriedly said, "It's my blessing to be able to serve godfather."
This was what Xu De said himself. It was hard to say whether it was sincere or not, but to train a young eunuch for the rest of his life was something that every senior eunuch would do. It was also an inheritance among eunuchs, and this inheritance could not be broken.
When a eunuch was old, having someone to take care of him and not taking care of him was completely different.
Xu De was very optimistic about Wang An, and in his heart, he also had the intention to train him.
"Godfather will teach you today."
Speaking of this, Xu De smiled and sat up straight, then said, "As servants, we do what we need to do. When we are young, we need to know how to do things and how to behave."
"Knowing how to do things means that you are sensible, know how to do things, and don't make mistakes."
"Only in this way can you be put in an important position. When young eunuchs first entered the palace, how many of them could do things for the Imperial Majesty?
Didn't they follow the Great Eunuch and do the things that the Great Eunuch asked them to do? "
"Don't fight, don't fight, just do things, don't talk. You did this very well."
Wang An stood on the side with his hands down, listening carefully, not daring to miss a word. These were all life experiences, and they were all his wealth in the future.
Hearing what Xu De said, Wang An smiled and said, "It's all because of godfather's teaching."
Xu De smiled faintly. "After this step, you will have the opportunity to work for the Imperial Majesty. This is what I taught you."
"This is an errand for the Imperial Majesty. Remember, the most important thing is to do it well. If you don't do it well, it's useless to say anything else.
After completing his task, all that was left was to report his achievements!
Fighting for favor!
These things. "
"You've just been working for the Imperial Majesty, so remember to be in the limelight. Don't let the old man think that you're arrogant and that you're trying to steal power."
"Although I will protect you in the palace, if everyone wants to harm you, no one knows what you will fall for.
The credit that should be shared should be shared. The credit that is shared should also be shared with the risk. "
Wang An's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that godfather was doing this to share the risk?
"After returning to the capital, I will recommend you to the Imperial Majesty and fight for a chance for you to be independent." Xu De said with a smile. "Remember what I said today. Don't be in the limelight."
Seeing Wang An nod, Xu De continued, "As for why I did this this time, don't think too much now. Just follow and watch!"
"Yes, godfather!" Wang An nodded and said respectfully.
For Xu De, how was the credit this time?
Could he be promoted again?
Of course not. He couldn't be promoted anymore.
As long as the old guy Zhang Hong was not dead, no one could touch him.
As long as the errand was done well, there was no need to be in the limelight. The case this time was too big. It couldn't be better for someone to take the blame.
Forbidden City, Wenhua Hall.
Zhu Yijun looked at the secret memorial in his hand. His eyes narrowed slightly. He reached out and knocked on the memorial. There was a smile on his face. "This Zhao Lian is a bit interesting!"
Although the degree of purification of opium in this era was not high, once one became addicted, it was not so easy to quit. He could actually resist with his will. He was a ruthless person!
Someone in the future said that a man who could quit smoking was too ruthless to himself. However, this Zhao Lian who could borrow opium was even more ruthless to himself.
In the memorial, Wang Yongji wrote in detail the process of Zhao Lian's resistance. This was also confirmed by Xu De's secret memorial.
The only difference was that Wang Yongji recommended Zhao Lian in the memorial. Wang Yongji thought that Zhao Lian was also a victim and didn't know that the Fushou ointment was poisoned.
Wang Yongji thought that Zhao Lian was a talent who could make up for his crime with meritorious service.
Zhu Yijun didn't care. In fact, he didn't have much hope in banning smoking.
Compared to people in this era, Zhu Yijun had a deeper understanding of opium. It was imported from overseas.
If they couldn't stop it at the source, it was impossible to ban it in the country.
The reason why Zhu Yijun asked them to investigate this matter was to prepare for the future. Secondly, it was to investigate smuggling and sea trade.
Although opium was very harmful, its status in the trade of this era was getting higher and higher. Its price was also high. It could be said to be a very, very expensive sea trade product.
To be able to get opium and have a channel to sell it in Daming, their strength couldn't be underestimated. They were definitely big sea merchants.
Zhu Yijun was still thinking about how to deal with these guys. It wasn't easy to find evidence of smuggling. These people had deep roots in Daming and were rich. If he really arrested them, it would be very troublesome. The opium gave him an opportunity.
Offering poison to the Emperor was too big of a deal. Or rather, it was too big of a deal. No one could carry it out.
He used this matter to cut through the Gordian knot and crush the smugglers in the Southeast.
Although there were many merchants in Daming and it was common for officials to do business, there weren't many big merchant groups that had the ability to influence the general situation.
The famous ones were the Jin merchants. These people started their business with the salt administration. At the same time, they made a fortune by trading with the border. In the end, they started smuggling and reselling military supplies. There was nothing they didn't dare to do or sell.
Behind them were the Huizhou merchants. In this era, the Huizhou merchants were very powerful.
If the Jin merchants were said to be the merchant group that had the deepest ties with the imperial court and many of their families had produced high-ranking officials, then the Huizhou merchants were "merchants who were good at business and became officials". The private schools in the villages were basically run by the people themselves. They were all funded by the merchants.
Unlike the Jin merchants and the Huizhou merchants, the Zhejiang merchants were much simpler. Most of them were simple merchants.
Other than the Jin merchants, the Huizhou merchants and the Zhejiang merchants, there were also the Fujian merchants and the Cantonese merchants.
Zhu Yijun knew very well that these merchants had started to form groups. Many big merchant groups were forming. The most representative event was the establishment of guilds.
The first guilds were the Wuhu guilds in Beijing built during the Yongle period. But now, there were more and more of these guilds.
The merchants invested money to build them and bribed the scholars of their hometown to form groups. Then, they would drag Daming into the abyss.
Zhu Yijun knew this very well. He made use of the salt ban in Yangzhou to give the Huizhou and Jin merchants a hard blow.
The Huizhou and Jin merchants were also mobilized in the northwest border trade. They had no choice but to submit to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Next, he was going to target the Zhejiang and Fujian merchants. They had a more representative name: Fujian and Zhejiang sea merchants!
Zhu Yijun was supportive of sea trade. Of course, he knew what it meant. He also needed sea merchants, even colonial sea merchants. However, he did not need the existing sea merchants. These people were not up to standard.
Their conscience was broken. For money, they would collude with the Japanese pirates. They dared to do any business.
If he didn't kill or defeat a group of them, his sea trade plan would definitely be ruined by them.
Originally, Zhu Yijun was thinking of a reason to deal with them. He didn't expect them to come knocking on his door. If he didn't take what was given to him, he would be punished. This was such a good opportunity. How could Zhu Yijun let it go?
Originally, Zhu Yijun wanted to let Xu De do it. He didn't expect someone to jump out now.
Zhang Jing's actions in Yangzhou had made this Dongchang factory official infamous. In fact, if he had a choice, Zhu Yijun didn't want to use a eunuch to do some things. His influence was not good.
Once a eunuch made a move, many people would look at it with colored glasses.
No matter what the truth was, conspiracy theories would appear, just like some industries that lost their credibility in the future.
It was the same for eunuchs. In this era, eunuchs didn't represent justice.
It was just that no civil official was willing to do such things. Even if you let him do it, he wouldn't do it.
This Zhao Lian made Zhu Yijun's eyes light up. This was a ruthless person. As for his pursuit, Zhu Yijun didn't know.
However, it was nothing more than money, power, beauty, or reputation. From the fact that Wang Yongji protected him, this Zhao Lian shouldn't be someone who coveted money and beauty.
Then the rest was simple. Whether it was love, power, or reputation, Zhao Lian could give it to him.
Being an official was addictive. Zhu Yijun was very clear on this point. For the sake of an official position, one could do anything without any bottom line.
Chen Zhao and Zhang Siwei were all like this. It was just that when they were used by Zhu Yijun, they were too selfish.
If they purely pursued power and official positions, Zhu Yijun would still support them.
This Zhao Lian could be trained!
Anyway, Nanjing had Xu De, so there wouldn't be any problems. Thinking of this, Zhu Yijun raised his head and looked at Zhang Jing. Then he said, "Let the cabinet draft an edict to add the assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, Zhao Lian, as the Left Imperial Censor of the Nanjing Imperial Censor. He will thoroughly investigate the case of Fushou ointment."
In fact, Zhu Yijun hadn't made this matter public before, but now Zhu Yijun was ready to make it public and investigate with great fanfare.
Zhang Jing bowed and said, "I will go to the cabinet to pass the edict!" After saying this, he quickly walked out.
When the Grand Secretary of the cabinet saw Zhang Jing, his heart sank. In fact, Zhang Jing's reputation was very bad now. This was secondary. The key was that every time Zhang Jing came, nothing good would happen.
After Shen Shixing saw Zhang Jing, he asked with a smile, "Eunuch Chang came to the cabinet. Does His Majesty have an edict?"
Zhang Jing nodded and said in a deep voice, "His Majesty ordered the cabinet to draft an edict to add the assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, Zhao Lian, as the Left Imperial Censor of the Nanjing Imperial Censor. He will thoroughly investigate the case of Fushou ointment."
After listening to Zhang Jing's words, Shen Shixing suddenly froze. It was very strange to add the title of Left Imperial Censor to an assistant minister of the Ministry of Works. Thoroughly investigate the case of Fushou ointment?
What kind of case was this Fushou ointment case?
He didn't understand it at all!
"Eunuch Chang, what is this Fushou ointment case?" Shen Shixing looked at Zhang Jing and asked with some doubts.
Zhang Jing didn't hide it. He directly told Shen Shixing about the matter, from Cui Fujin presenting the Fushou ointment to the discovery that it was poisonous.
As for Zhu Yijun's thoughts, Zhang Jing was very clear. Since the Imperial Majesty sent someone to deliver the imperial edict, he was naturally ready to make it public.
After listening to Zhang Jing's words, Shen Shixing's face became very ugly.
No matter when, poisoning the Emperor was a big case. The only thing that made Shen Shixing glad was that the person who did it was a eunuch.
Even so, Shen Shixing didn't dare to neglect it. Who knew who would be involved?
The case of the White Lotus Society in Shandong was just over, and now there was an assassination case. This was a big matter!
It would be good if someone was plotting against him, but he was afraid that someone was stirring up trouble inside!
However, he didn't know anything now, and Shen Shixing couldn't make an accurate judgment. He had no clue what the matter was and how it would develop in the future. He could only wait and see.
But why did an assistant minister of the Ministry of Works in Nanjing investigate this case?
Shen Shixing didn't know, but he wasn't going to ask. This matter didn't involve the cabinet, so he simply let it go.
If he went to find His Majesty now, it would definitely be bad luck. It was an assassination case!
"Please ask Eunuch Chang to report back to His Majesty. The cabinet will immediately draft an edict and then send it 600 li to Nanjing."
Shen Shixing naturally knew what to do at this time.
The news that Zhang Jing had returned to the palace instantly spread throughout the capital, and the whole capital was in an uproar.
Someone wanted to assassinate the Emperor. This was a big case, but it had nothing to do with most people, and they didn't care. However, some people couldn't sit still, especially some officials in Jiangnan, because they also used the Fushou ointment.
The Imperial Hospital quickly announced the properties of the poison, Fushou ointment, and how to check whether it was poisoned.
So that night, many people in the capital didn't take the Fushou ointment. Many people were instantly frightened to find that they were poisoned.
This case instantly caused a sensation. This time it was really big.
Countless people began to submit memorials, asking for a thorough investigation of the case. For a time, the public opinion was turbulent.
The Imperial Hospital also gave a way to detoxify, which was to stop taking the Fushou ointment. When you wanted to take it, you could tie yourself up.
Of course, no one knew if anyone followed this advice.
The imperial edict was quickly sent 600 li to Nanjing. The person who delivered the edict was a little eunuch.
There was nothing much to say about the process. The arrival of the imperial edict made Zhao Lian feel as if he had received a cardiac stimulant.
His body, which was originally very weak, had improved a lot in these two days.
Although he did it a few more times, it was far less intense than the first time.
However, each time was torture. After each time, Zhao Lian's body was a little weaker.
After enduring a few times, the drug addiction did not occur again. Zhao Lian's body finally began to recover, which made Zhao Lian very excited.
When the imperial edict arrived, Zhao Lian's whole person was even more high-spirited.
Although his imperial envoy position was temporary, Zhao Lian believed that as long as he did this task well, he would certainly be able to have a meteoric rise. Being transferred to the capital was definitely not a dream. How could this not make him excited? How could this not make his blood boil?