Zhu Youzhen lowered his head and thought for a while, then said to Lu Qi: "I haven't been to the Wensi Academy for a long time, inform Xu Xingsheng that I will go to the Wensi Academy tomorrow afternoon, and let him summarize the research progress of the Wensi Academy during this time." ”

Lu Qi hurriedly responded, and then continued: "There is also Lin Yuanrong, the person in charge of the Jinyi Guard in Shaanxi, who sent a secret report to the capital, about a case in which an army soldier and a local household were killed because of a dispute over usury. ”

"Well, you read it to me." After listening to Zhu Youzhen, he immediately sat up straight, mentioned his tired spirit, and listened attentively to report on the content of the case.

For him, the news in the northwest and northeast has always been more important than in other parts of the Ming Dynasty. After all, whether it is now or in history, these two places are the cornerstone of ensuring the social stability of the Ming Dynasty, as long as these two places are not chaotic, the world will not be in any big mess.

As Chongzhen's confidant, Lu Qi can now better understand some of the emperor's thoughts, and when he saw the emperor make such a gesture, he immediately slowed down his speech and told the reported case as clearly as possible.

Zhu Youzhen's thumbs circled each other for a long time before he spoke: "Lin Yuanrong handled it well, give him a promotion level, and reward him with a mansion in the inner city of the capital, so that he can continue to work hard in the future."

Yang He is now about to take office in Xi'an, and he has sent an edict to him to continue to press the case until the autumn.

That Qian Wenjun bribed the student official to get the identity of the student, which shows that the Shaanxi school administration is either incompetent or greedy for money and power. Let's check what kind of person is the current Shaanxi Xuezheng and what kind of background he has. ”

Lu Qi answered, and immediately withdrew from the upper study to investigate the question raised by Chongzhen. Three quarters of an hour later, Lu Qi walked quickly into the upper study and reported to Chongzhen about the personality and background of Shaanxi Xuezheng.

After Zhu Youzhen listened, he frowned and said, "It's actually a protégé of Master Feng, so it's not good to start in a hurry." ”

The emperor pondered for a moment and then ordered: "Tomorrow, before the cabinet meeting, I want to see Master Feng, you go and inform him, and inform Hu Ke to give Han Yiliang to stand by outside the Wenhua Hall tomorrow." ”

Lu Qi was slightly surprised when he heard the latter's name, but he didn't react at all on his face, and bowed his head to accept the emperor's instructions.

However, when he walked out of the Qianqing Palace and instructed the two little eunuchs around him to pass the message for the emperor, he called his cronie Xiao Zhao and instructed: "You go to Waidongchang for me and let Wang Yihu investigate Han Yiliang's background." ”

His confidant Xiao Zhao agreed, and left in a hurry. Lu Qi stood in the shadow of the porch of the Qianqing Palace, thinking silently with his hands behind his back.

He has become one of the most powerful people in the palace from a sprinkler eunuch, and the wonder of chance has become a legend in the palace.

But for Lu Qi, he didn't think that he was really favored by the emperor, and he couldn't sit back and relax because of this.

After Chongzhen ascended the throne, the power structure in the palace has undergone tremendous changes, although Wang Tiqian and others still occupy the position of the celebrant supervisor, but the power in the palace has almost been transferred to many upstarts from the palace.

A pattern was formed with Wang Chengen and Wang Dehua as the leaders, and other eunuchs followed. The eunuchs in the palace who were born in the palace and can stand out are about him and Xu Xingsheng.

However, Xu Xingsheng is mainly responsible for various practical affairs, and although he is quite trusted by His Majesty, his power cannot threaten others.

On the contrary, it was he, because he assisted Wang Chengen in mastering the Social Investigation Institute and supervising Jinyiwei, but he became the third person in the palace after Wang Chengen and Wang Dehua. This was apparently hated by the eunuchs from the Shin Palace, who believed that his position should have belonged to them.

Although Lu Qi is still relatively bland in his view of power, he also knows very well that a eunuch leader who has fallen from a high position will not have such an ending as a dull ending.

In order to maintain the Emperor's trust in him, he had to be completely loyal to the Emperor. At some point, he even monitored the movements of the eunuchs who believed in the king's origins. Chongzhen neither supported nor opposed his actions, but only arranged a fixed time for him to report, avoiding the eyes and ears of others.

From that moment on, Lu Qi knew that the emperor did not want the palace to be completely a world of eunuchs from the Xinwang Mansion. And the reason why the emperor promoted him was to hope that he could completely report the news he had.

Knowing this, it didn't make Lu Qi feel much more at ease. Because this kind of work is not something that he can do alone, as long as the emperor wants to, anyone in the palace can take his place.

If he wants to hold his position safely, he needs to let the emperor discover that he has a unique role that no one else can replace.

For example, when the emperor mentioned Han Yiliang, he thought about asking the social investigation institute to establish a file on this person, in case the emperor could inquire at any time.

In the evening, when he arrived at the nine duty rooms of the Neidong Factory, a eunuch on duty handed him a sealed document bag.

After the original East Factory was changed into the Daming Times and Social Investigation Institute, after several reorganizations, it has been completely different from the pattern of the old East Factory.

The Social Investigation Institute is now divided into nine divisions, with a total of nine departments. One is to monitor the intelligence of domestic civil and military officials and clans. It is the largest unit, accounting for one-third of the staff of the entire investigation institute.

Most of the personnel in this department are inherited from the old East Factory, and the way of working is relatively old-fashioned, and it is also a place that Wang Chengen directly controls and refuses to let Lu Qi interfere.

The second is to monitor local public opinion and have the responsibility of guiding public opinion. This branch has the largest number of informal staff and is closely associated with the Daming Times.

Although this division was established within the Social Investigation Institute, it was in the hands of Liu Jingting, and he did not obey the orders of the Social Investigation Institute on weekdays.

The three divisions are responsible for the collection of overseas intelligence and have deep ties with the Tongbunkan.

It is responsible for the personnel relations of the personnel within the Social Investigation Institute and is in charge of the staff training school.

The Fifth Division is responsible for the internal communications of the Social Investigation Institute and the monitoring of internal personnel.

The Sixth Division is responsible for monitoring the operation of firms above all sizes in the country, the status of banking and financial crimes, and is in charge of all kinds of transport vehicles and vessels under the name of the Investigation Office, and is responsible for subsidizing the operating expenses of the Investigation Office.

The Seventh Division is responsible for monitoring the situation within the Jinyi Guard and the army, from training to logistics and supplies.

The eighth branch is the Operations Service, which is responsible for certain closed operations, in addition to overt arrests, interrogations and internal prison services.

Division 9 is the Asset Management and Maintenance Division, which is responsible for managing the assets of the Social Investigation Institute and repairing some of the damaged houses under the Investigation Office.

Lu Qi himself was in charge of this department, of course, in addition to these superficial duties, the ninth department was also Lu Qi's personal intelligence investigation department. All the people that the emperor cared about and the people around the emperor would set up a file here.

Less than three months after the establishment of the Ninth Division, the number on Han Yiliang's file bag was already 1961.

Han Yiliang, a native of Chengcheng, Shaanxi. The word is like Confucianism, the number has Huai, born in the eighth year of Wanli, 24 years old, will take the test five times, and the court examination will be awarded Chen Liuzhi County

During his tenure as the magistrate of the county, he attached great importance to the crops, composed "Song of Persuading Farmers", established schools, repaired Confucius Temple, and promoted education. It has a reputation for integrity in the local area, but because of opposition to the Henan governor Guo Zongguang and the governor Bao Qi to establish the Dai De Temple and the Ande Temple for Wei Zhongxian, he was not allowed to be promoted for seven years.

After Chongzhen ascended the throne, he expelled Wei Zhongxian from Beijing, so he was promoted to the middle of the household department. At the end of June, he took office in the household department, and in July, he went to the "Rectification of Civil Officials Love Money".

Carelessness: The ** of Ming officials is not because of the lack of personal ethics and morality of officials. But now the unspoken rules of Daming officialdom have decided that after becoming an official of Daming, if he does not accept bribes or give red envelopes, he will not be able to survive in Daming officialdom.

From top to bottom, each official position in the Ming Dynasty is clearly priced. The office of a governor is five or six thousand taels of silver; The beauty of a Taoist prefect costs two or three thousand taels of silver; and the official positions of the yamen in the following states and counties also have their own prices; Even the lifting of people, prisoners, etc., have to bribe to make deals.

There are also the selection of science and technology halls among the Beijing officials, all of which have to be paid with one hand and the official certificate with the other. He also took the example of someone bribing him with 500 taels not long after he took office after he was appointed to the Ministry of Households, which shows that the ** of the Ming Dynasty has reached the shocking point where the official is judged by price and the government is bribed.

Han Yiliang's superiority was quickly leaked, and the impeachment that attacked him for grandstanding was immediately piled up in front of Chongzhen.

However, the emperor ignored all of them, which made the cabinet and several civil officials of the six ministries dare not act rashly, so the discussion of officials in Beijing about Han Yiliang's dismissal began to slowly subside.

However, now that His Majesty suddenly proposed to ask Han Yiliang to wait in the cabinet tomorrow, does His Majesty want to use him? Lu Qi put down the document in his hand and secretly guessed in his heart.

He pondered for a while, then asked the eunuch standing in front of him, "What have you been busy with lately?" ”

Liu Rong hurriedly bowed and said: "One has recently strengthened the monitoring of officials at the top and bottom of the household department. It is said that the governor has checked the accounts of the household department in the past few months, especially the accounts of the funds allocated from the inner treasury and handed over to the household department to help the victims of the disaster in Shaanxi. ”

Lu Qi nodded and said, "Find an opportunity to get close to Han Yiliang's servant, pick a peripheral person who has developed into the ninth department, but let him record Han Yiliang's daily actions." ”

Liu Rong responded, and then asked, "Then how many grades do you want to include Han Yiliang's file?" ”

Lu Qi thought about it for a while, and said: "For the time being, it is set to the third level, ordinary level, so you don't need to pay too much attention to it..."