Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 279: Lu Fang leaves the palace and thigh meat grows back!
"Lu Fang."

"The servant is here."

Lu Fang knelt on the ground, crying.

Having accompanied the emperor for more than 40 years, he never thought that he would become a breakthrough for others to tarnish his holy name.

At this moment, I couldn’t tell whether I felt wronged or something, I just wanted to cry.

For every dog-slaughtering person who is righteous, there are many scholars who are unfaithful.

The cabinet elders and the ministers of the six ministries and nine departments really hurt him.

Zhu Houcong lifted the bottom of his dragon robe and waved it, asking, "In which year was this dragon robe of mine made?"

Lü Fang did not raise her head, and choked up as she said, "If I remember correctly, it should have been made in June of the twenty-first year of Jiajing. It has been exactly twenty years since this month."

"Good memory."

Zhu Houcong praised him and sighed, "As the saying goes, 'clothes are better when new, people are better when old', I am no exception. Old people are better, old clothes are better, even if they are just lying there, I will not let them go."

Lu Fang was so moved by these kind words that she could no longer control herself and burst into tears in front of the emperor.

Huang Jin stood there, and although he didn't make a sound, his tears couldn't stop flowing.

However, this sentiment could not spread among the ministers and officials. The emperor's use of people was like stacking firewood, and the latecomers would always come out on top.

In the hall, the oldest official is the Minister of Punishments Pan En, who was a Jinshi in the second year of Jiajing. He served as the magistrate of Qizhou, the deputy director of the Nanjing Ministry of Punishments, the assistant director of Guangxi Education... Governor of Henan Province and Minister of Punishments. He witnessed everything that happened in the past forty years of the Jiajing Dynasty and was deeply touched by the emperor's favor.

Most of the others were officials who entered the court in the tenth year, the twentieth year, or even after the thirtieth year of Jiajing. Although they enjoyed the emperor's favor, it was too easy to be moved.

More importantly, the emperor's favor is what every minister hopes for, and what they worry about is the possible ridicule they may suffer from flatterers in the court and the public after leaving the palace.

Zhu Houcong looked at no one and continued as if he was talking about his daily life, "People have a common problem, they like new things and hate old things. Little do they know that old clothes become closer to the body and old people become closer to the heart. Take Lü Fang for example. He has been through countless things with me. He is quite cautious and mature in what he does and will not cause trouble. I think that the head of the family must be an old man, so I let him be the head of the inner court."

At this point, Zhu Houcong looked at Zhang Juzheng and could also see Gao Gong, and continued: "In the outer court, I have used Yang Tinghe, Xia Yan, and Yan Song, all of whom were old men in the court. At the beginning, they were cautious, mature, and did not cause trouble. Gradually, they grew old and their energy was not enough. They did not cause trouble themselves, but their subordinates did.

This is why I dismissed Yang Tinghe and Xia Yan, and killed Yan Song.

Lu Fang is old and has caused trouble. You are right, I cannot just punish the outer court and ignore the inner court right under my nose.

I know that people in the outer court often say "there must be fragrant grass within ten steps". The twenty-four government offices in the palace are full of fragrant grass, not to mention the Jinyiwei, whose bodies are embroidered with fragrant grass, colorful flowers and green grass.

"Fang" refers to Lv Fang; "Cao" refers to Lv Fang's power;

Even ignorant farmers know that too much weeds will ruin the crops, but I still want you, the grand secretaries and ministers of the six ministries, to remind me of this.

My ancestors handed the country to me, but I have let it become like this. I am deeply saddened. I have sinned against the country, my ancestors, and the heaven and earth. "

This is a self-talk.

Everyone knelt down, their faces sweating more than before, their heads lowered, afraid to reveal even a trace of expression.

The businesses supervised by the eunuchs sent abroad are the source of the imperial treasury, and the imperial treasury is the emperor's purse.

In their hearts, they felt that targeting the emperor's purse was not a good idea this time.

Lu Fang banged his head on the brick floor and then lay there.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhu Houcong continued, "I think that 'if you are not dumb or deaf, you should not be the head of the family'. Many things can be ignored. If you want to make trouble, you can make trouble as long as everyone does what they should do.

It was you who told me that governing a country is not like being in charge of a household, and that everything cannot be done in a muddle-headed manner. I thought about it, and it is true. If the rice jar is overturned, only one family will starve, but if the rice jar is overturned, the whole country will starve.

Lü Fang. "

The Holy Voice calls.

"I, I am here." Lu Fang cried until she was silent and answered weakly.

"You have followed me for most of your life. Let's go." Zhu Houcong looked at him and said softly.

"Your servant..." After saying these two words, Lu Fang choked up and swallowed her tears after a long time. "I am satisfied to have been able to serve Your Majesty for more than forty years..."

"Let's go." Zhu Houcong no longer looked at him, walked straight into the curtain, walked back to the temple, sat cross-legged on the cushion, and closed his eyes.

There was deathly silence in the hall.

After a long time, Lu Fang finally mustered up some strength to get up. He kowtowed three times in front of Zhu Houcong's cushion before standing up.

Zhu Houcong sat facing the main hall, his closed eyes looking somewhat crystal clear.

Outside the temple, the sound from the main hall was still coming.

Lu Fang got up, stood up, knelt down to Huang Jin, the godson he had called him for half his life, and said, "Eunuch Huang, the Emperor is in your hands now. I kowtow to you."

Immediately, the sound of kowtow was heard outside, followed by the sound of two people kowtowing. At this time, Huang Jin was unable to utter a word and could only kowtow to his godfather who had taken care of him for so many years.

Then the only sound was Huang Jin's kowtow. It was obvious that Lu Fang had already walked out of the palace gate and Yuxi Palace.

Huang Jin knew nothing and just kowtowed until he passed out.

The "anti-Lü" operation went so smoothly that the country's pillars felt like they were in the clouds. They were leisurely led out of the hall by the eunuchs of Yuxi Palace. When they came to their senses, they were already outside the hall and had to go back to their respective offices.

The cabinet elders and ministers from the six ministries and nine departments who returned to the government office remained silent. Even the most foolish of them knew that a storm was about to begin.

The outer court had their eyes on the emperor's purse and joined forces to drive away the eunuchs closest to the emperor. How could this end like this?
The unconscious Huang Jin was carried back to the Silijian. As soon as he woke up, he ordered all the eunuchs from the Ministry of Justice and the East Factory to go out and arrest the eunuchs who had brought evidence of crimes from the outer court. Regardless of their identities, they were all killed, and the money for corruption was confiscated. Those with other crimes would be executed along with their entire families.

At one time, thousands of eunuchs in the inner court and eunuchs sent outside the court were killed, and thousands of people's families were also executed.

Due to the shortage of manpower, Huang Jin, who had recovered a little, went to the Northern Pacification Office in person to meet with Lu Bing, the commander-in-chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and asked the Embroidered Uniform Guard to help kill people.

A massacre broke out in the two capitals and thirteen provinces, and tens of thousands of eunuchs and their families were killed.

But this was not the end. Huang Jin once again asked Lu Bing and the Jinyiwei to launch a purge of the inner court, the East Factory, and the eunuchs sent to supervise the government offices.

The killing lasted for a month, with eunuchs being killed every hour, every day and every night. In the huge inner court, only less than ten thousand eunuchs were left.

The corruption of the East Factory and the eunuchs sent abroad was even more serious, and the casualties were naturally even more severe, with only one in ten surviving! The era of Yan Song's cabinet and Lu Fang's inner court came to an end.

The government and the public were in uproar!

……

"Lv Fang..."

In the empty Yuxi Palace, the Saint's unconscious calls were heard.

Huang Jin, the new eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, froze for a moment, then walked into the abode and said, "Your Highness, I am here."

"It is you!"

Zhu Houcong remembered that Lü Fang was no longer in the inner court or in the capital, so he looked outside the door and asked, "Did Lü Fang send any letters?"

I don't know why, but I felt a little panicky just now. I have never felt this way in my two lifetimes.

So lonely!

Huang Jin lowered his eyes and replied, "Your Majesty, no."

"He forgot about us."

Huang Jin knelt down with a sigh and said, "I am not speaking for my godfather. Not to mention that he will never forget His Majesty even if he is reincarnated in the next life, let alone in Jinling in this life."

Jinling was prosperous, but not as orderly as the capital. Although Lu Fang had a family, his parents and brothers had all passed away. He did not want to trouble his nephews and nieces, so he went to Jinling to enjoy his life.

Huang Jin was a filial son, and in order to help Lu Fang avoid unnecessary troubles, he arranged a job for him as a tomb keeper, and had someone take good care of him so that he could enjoy endless wealth and glory for the rest of his life.

This can be considered as a consolation for Lu Fang's hard work over the past forty years.

"That's true." Zhu Houcong still looked out the door. "My father and mother passed away when I was young. I have no parents, no brothers, no close friends. If there is anyone, it's only Lu Fang."

Hearing this, Huang Jin could no longer hold back the grief in his heart. He turned around, left Zhu Houcong behind, sat on the threshold of the partition of the monastery, and cried.

"Why are you crying, you slave?" Zhu Houcong scolded.

Huang Jin slowly stopped talking, choked up and sat there and replied: "I just don't understand, godfather can stay in the palace, why, why..."

"Why should I let him go?"

Zhu Houcong looked at him with gentle eyes and smiled: "Lü Fang is different from you. Since entering the palace, Lü Fang has never regarded himself as a human being. He regards himself as a thing placed at the feet of the emperor by God."

Lu Fang was a eunuch during the Zhengde reign.

What was the situation of eunuchs during the Zhengde reign like? Evil eunuchs were everywhere in the palace, including the emperor, the Eight Tigers, etc.

At a very young age, Lu Fang was secretly castrated by his parents and sent to the capital. Fortunately, he was able to enter the palace in the eleventh year of Zhengde, when the inner court recruited a large number of self-eunuchs.

During the time that should have been a carefree time, Lu Fang suffered from bullying in the inner court, but he was unwilling to accept his fate. He encountered an opportunity and was able to enter the inner study hall. Later, he was selected to serve in the Prince Xing's Mansion when he was still the crown prince.

For the vast majority of eunuchs, spending their old age in a prince's palace was not a bad thing. After all, although the people in the princes' palaces at that time were not very human, they were generally good to their subordinates.

People can offend many people, but there are two types of outsiders that you should not offend easily: one is the cook, and the other is the barber.

The cook will poison you, and the barber will hit you on the head with a razor in his hand. Once they have evil intentions, it is difficult to guard against them.

Anyone who understands this principle will not treat the concubines or the people around him too badly. They eat the palace's salary, receive the prince's reward, and being a eunuch in the prince's palace is no worse than being in the palace.

Zhu Houcong still remembered that Lu Fang at that time was very dedicated and very contented. He would always feel grateful to the heaven for treating him well. When he and the prince were on tour outside the palace, whenever they came across a temple or Taoist temple, he would always persuade them to go in and burn incense together.

It must be said that Zhu Houcong's practice of fasting, offering sacrifices and cultivating the mysterious world had a lot to do with Lu Fang.

Perhaps the burning incense took effect, and the gods and Buddhas enjoyed it, so they brought down more blessings and misfortunes.

His father, Prince Xing, died first, so he became Prince Xing. A few years later, his cousin, Emperor Zhengde, passed away, so he became the emperor.

As his identity changed, Lu Fang's status rose rapidly, from being the Crown Prince's companion, to becoming the Prince's companion, in charge of the Prince's Palace, and finally to the Emperor's companion, in charge of the inner court.

From the step from Crown Prince to Prince, he and Lu Fang did not experience any storms, but from the step from Prince to Emperor, he and Lu Fang were constantly tested.

From Anlu in Huguang to the capital, before he even entered the city gate, Yang Tinghe and other important officials of the Zhengde Dynasty had already lined up their carriages and horses and were waiting. Then came the dispute over the Great Ceremony, the New Deal of Jiajing, the Renyin Incident, and then he moved into the Western Garden. The two generations of chief ministers of the cabinet, Yang Tinghe and Xia Yan, were extremely powerful, and even he, the emperor, had to avoid them, let alone the eunuch Lu Fang, whom the literati had always looked down upon.

Whenever the emperor made a mistake, Yang Tinghe and Xia Yan would point the finger at the problem and scold Lu Fang like he was scolding a house slave.

Even a brick on the palace wall knows cold and heat.

At that time, Lu Fang was not only the emperor's slave, but also the slave of the emperor's ministers. She had to endure all the ridicule and suffering alone.

The position of the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department is good, but it will never let you live like a human being. What Lu Fang wants is to live like a human being.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard reported a lot of information about Lu Fang. Lu Fang, who went to Nanjing to guard the mausoleum, bought a big house but did not buy any slaves. He cleaned the house, and took care of his daily living and eating by himself.

When Lu Fang left the inner court, he took with him more than 40 years' salary. He had no shortage of gold and silver. It was enough for him to buy a few slaves to serve him and to marry some wives and concubines.

But Lu Fang did not do all these. Instead, he built a home for himself.

After finishing all this, Lu Fang went to buy meat and vegetables for the first time. Since she didn’t know how to cook, she just washed and cut the meat and vegetables and cooked them in one pot.

Lu Fang, who didn't know how to light a fire, got his face black before he finally lit the fire and cooked a pot of meat and vegetables. It wasn't even salty, but Lu Fang ate it with gusto.

From that day on, Lu Fang considered himself a human being!

But Huang Jin was different. As soon as he entered the palace, he was chosen by Lu Fang and sent to the Inner Study Hall to study. After leaving the Inner Study Hall, he became a royal eunuch. Later, he was transferred to the eunuchs of Shangshenjian, Sishejian, and Neiguanjian. From then on, he entered Silijian, first as a secretary and then a eunuch in charge of writing.

Under Lu Fang's care, Huang Jin had suffered all the hardships he would have to endure in his life since the day he entered the palace. This was why Chen Hong was jealous of Huang Jin and blamed Lu Fang for being partial to him before his death. When he died, he was still repeating "this life... this life... this life..."

What Chen Hong really wanted to say was that Lu Fang had never looked down on him or been partial to him in her life.

Zhu Houcong had given Lu Fang "divine grace", which not only restored his youth but also restored the flesh in his thighs. In a few more years, he would marry, have children, and become a real person.

Huang Jin was still confused, but Zhu Houcong did not continue and asked, "I heard that Zhang Juzheng's father died?"

(End of this chapter)