Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 190 Preset "East Factory"

On the tenth day of October, the cold wind howled more and more, and there was still an endless stream of people seeking to survive on the streets.

According to the Gregorian calendar, it will be November!

Zhu Yixi sat in the carriage, admiring the orderly beauty of Xiangyang.

The wide streets are unoccupied, the ground is clean and tidy, the shops are orderly, and the pedestrians are leisurely. This city exudes great vitality.

As the experimental site of big government and the residence of King Hanyang, Xiangyang City is very different from other big cities.

Zhu Yixi expressed his satisfaction.

When the time is right, it will naturally be extended to the entire Huguang.

This was his first foray into politics.

Like in the novels of later generations, the reform is the protagonist slapping his head, discussing with his subordinates, then implementing it directly, and then succeeding.

This is complete nonsense.

All policies need to be implemented by people, otherwise good policies will become bad, and bad ones will be even worse.

To put it bluntly, it is the issue of the governance of officials and the governance of men.

Why did Wang Anshi's reform fail?It just doesn't work well.

The reason why Zhang Juzheng's reform was successful is that he established the test method and put a knife on the head of the officials. For the future, he has to work hard.

The commercial tax he implemented was to set up a new stove and set up a new yamen to avoid the contamination of those corrupt officials.

Similarly, in terms of grain, tea, and salt, he would rather trust those merchants than hand them over to officials.

In the early days of Qianlong, he was considered wise and powerful, but he was still coaxed, and eggs were twelve taels. During the Guangxu period, it even rose to 30 taels.

To deal with businessmen, Zhu Yixi directly locks them down, which requires no effort at all, let alone excuses, but taking down officials is much more troublesome.

This is also the reason why eunuchs have been reused many times. It is so convenient that there is no excuse for killing with a stick.

For example, when he just arrived in Xiangyang, Yang Le, the newly-appointed chief officer of Hanyang Mansion, was warmly welcoming him at the pier.

Ships, carriages, everything.

"Your Highness, are you going directly to the palace, or to the Yamen?"

Yang Le smiled and asked respectfully.

"Go to the Military and Political Department!"

Zhu Yixi shook his head and said, "Having been to Wuchang for half a month, I must have accumulated a lot of government affairs."

"Yes!" Yang Le agreed without hesitation, and urged the carriage to go to Prince Xiang's Mansion.

Turning around, he smiled and asked again: "Your Highness, you are almost becoming a prince. It's so inconvenient to live in this county's palace, why don't you repair the Xiangwang's mansion?"

“Kind of a waste of money!”

Zhu Yixi frowned slightly.

"Your Highness, the Military and Political Department, the Staff Department, and the Transportation Department are all in the Prince Xiang's Mansion. Although they are only a few steps away, they are separated by a floor."

Yang Le looked at King Hanyang's face, and said cautiously: "If there is any urgent military situation, it must be too late."

These words made Zhu Yixi fall into deep thought.

It doesn't matter what the military situation is, but it is extremely important to be far away from the administrative center, even if it is only a few hundred steps away.

For example, the cabinet in Beijing is located in Wenyuan Pavilion, inside the Forbidden City, and the emperor can go there directly when he goes to court, without having to step through the palace gate.

Once there is an important matter, or a major event, whoever can be called at any time, it is more convenient for the emperor to supervise nearby.

"It's good that you can think of this level."

Zhu Yixi showed a smile, looked at Yang Le, and praised.

At this moment, she really looked at him carefully.

He has a square face with thick eyebrows and a simple and honest face. Although he can't be called handsome, he is still above average. It is quite different from the feminine, harsh and ugly TV image in his impression.

Think about it, people are animals based on their faces, and it is difficult for someone who is too ugly to be an official. If you want to climb up in the court, at least you must not be ugly.

Who wants to see an ugly monster every day?
The simple and honest image, on the contrary, gave him a lot of points.

"How did you get into the Shu Palace?"

Zhu Yixi suddenly asked curiously.

"Your Highness, this servant is from Beijing. She originally wanted to take the martial arts exam, but accidentally injured her body, so she simply wanted to enter the palace."

When Yang Le said this, his eyes were full of helplessness, there was no special reason, who wants to enter the palace?

"So, the family took out the money that the servants had passed, and bribed them into the palace. After the first emperor ascended the throne, the number of palace personnel was reduced, and we were assigned to the King of Shu."

The so-called distribution is actually similar to placing eyeliner. It belongs to the jurisdiction of Dongchang, which is to supervise the vassal kings.

Of course, due to the great power of the eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty, there were ten times more self-eunuchs than official eunuchs every year. The supply exceeded demand, and too many recruits were distributed to the princes, killing two birds with one stone.

"Martial arts?"

Zhu Yixi was taken aback, and looked up and down in surprise: "I never thought, but you have such an experience."

Yang Le was startled, he understood the thoughts of these feudal lords too well, and hurriedly said: "The palace has its own guards, and the servants dare not be presumptuous. They haven't practiced for more than ten years, and they are no different from ordinary people."

Zhu Yixi didn't think too much about it, but nodded and said: "Practice some legs and feet, and live longer, which is much better than taking those panacea."

Sun Xuan'er saw him, looked him up and down carefully, and said: "It's useless, it's useless, if you don't advance, you will retreat. Now you are only slightly better than ordinary people."

Yang Le said flatteringly: "Your maidservant can't beat Miss Sun, even if she is more than ten years younger, she can't beat you."

"Hahaha, that's true."

Sun Xuaner was overjoyed.

Seeing his appearance, Zhu Yixi suddenly thought of something.

Factory guard, factory guard, now that Sun Changzhou has gone to the south of the Yangtze River, his Jinyiwei can be regarded as initially established.

However, his own Dongchang has not yet existed.

As for why there is Jinyiwei, there is another Dongchang.

The biggest reason is balance.

Jin Yiwei is in charge of spies and detectives, while Dongchang is in charge of supervising Jin Yiwei and carrying out spies at the same time.

While most operations overlap, it is also necessary to have two intelligence agencies at the same time.

And the reason why the eunuchs are in charge of the East Factory, rather than military officials like Jin Yiwei, is that the eunuchs are so easy to use.

The eunuch will try his best to flatter the emperor at all costs, and if he is not satisfied, he can be replaced directly.

Thinking of its many advantages, Zhu Yixi was moved:

"Prince Xiang's Mansion still needs to be repaired."

"The servant girl will go and order."

Yang Le hurriedly responded.

"Be more simple, the budget should be within [-] taels!"

Zhu Yixi said with a frugal look: "Now is not the time to enjoy yourself."

"Yes!" Yang Le nodded.

"Cheng Feng Si, please don't worry about it for now."

The eunuch in the palace belongs to the Department of Chengfeng.

Startled, Yang Le hurriedly knelt down and lowered his head, not knowing where he made a mistake.

Zhu Yixi then said: "I will get you some people to take good care of the entire Xiangyang City."

"Slave, servant, obey!"

Yang Le's heart was shaken, his mood was up and down, and his face couldn't restrain the joy.

As an eunuch, he didn't understand that this was the embryonic form of Dongchang, a spy organization.

In the entire Ming Dynasty, the eunuchs were ranked in power, followed by the eunuch who was the supervisor of rites, the eunuch who held the pen, the eunuch who took the seal, and then the eunuch who was the admiral of the East Factory.

In the Hanyang palace, the princess is in charge of everything, and the supervisor of ceremonies is even gone. The king of Hanyang is very powerful.

Therefore, if you can control the "East Factory", you will be considered the pinnacle of power.

(End of this chapter)