Promotion Letter for the Chief Executive

After being beaten by eunuch Ma, Ping An also lost interest in gossip.Anyway, he doesn’t really have any pursuits. Those words before are all good-looking. His goal is to eat and wait to die. As long as he doesn’t make mistakes and is not punished, he can hang around for decades. Like eunuch Ma, although his status is not high, he has a lot of connections. It is enough to live leisurely.

He smiled and said, "I am under your old man's name, there is nothing wrong with that."

Of course, Ping An knows that the so-called "under the name of XXX" is not just a casual talk.

In fact, the eunuchs in the palace are similar to those in the court, they are divided into different factions, and they have their own connections with each other. The relationship is intricate, like vines wrapped around a big tree, entangled with each other, and it is difficult to sort out.Just like the officials in the court divided factions based on the relationship between their teachers, the same year, and their ancestral home, the eunuchs in the palace also had their own division methods, such as fellow villagers, godfathers, and their respective masters.

Among them, recognizing godfather is the most common method.Great eunuchs often recognize several godsons, godsons have godsons, and form a huge and closely linked interest system.And only those who stand at the top are qualified to protect the faction under them, and these people in the faction can be called "under the name of XXX".If there is a second generation among the eunuchs, then it is this group of people.

Eunuch Ma's status is naturally not enough for the status of the great eunuch.But Ping An said this just to show his loyalty, euphemistically conveying the meaning of "I can treat you as a godfather, we are our own people".

Eunuch Ma also understood, so although he didn't say anything, he was more satisfied with Ping An.

In the beginning, he was really just interested in peace and good fortune, flattering in front of his master, and wanting to live a long life, being blessed and pleasing is more important than anything else.But Ping An is so sensible and interesting, of course Eunuch Ma is more satisfied.If it is cultivated well, it may be better than yourself.

After decades in the palace, Eunuch Ma felt for the first time that he had found a successor.

But it's too early to tell.Adopting a son is not that simple.You always have to do some research, and only when you meet your own requirements will you propose it.The current peace, as Eunuch Ma said, is still far from it!

The bell and drum department is also located in the thirteenth row of north and south, and it will be there after a short walk.The people in the yard were busy with each other, when they saw Eunuch Ma coming, some stood up to greet him, some just nodded and said something, and some just pretended not to see him.Ping An followed behind him, and had a rough estimate of Eunuch Ma's position here.

In the eyes of those who met before Ping An entered the palace, eunuch Ma was already a person in the palace, which was already very remarkable.When he was in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he also had friendship with eunuchs in other places.But in fact, he was not at the same level in the palace.In the Bell and Drum Division, he should be a small steward who manages a lot of people, but there are still a lot of people on his head.

It is said that there are always tens of thousands of people in the entire imperial palace, not including the masters and eunuchs, just the maids and eunuchs who serve people.If the imperial palace is compared to a large group, then 24 Yamen is a subordinate department of the group.Eunuch Ma is the art officer of the Bell and Drum Division, almost equivalent to the leader of the working group under the department.The official position is not big, and a little bit of power.

Eunuch Ma led Ping An to meet Cao Bingwen, the eunuch of Zhonggu Division.The great eunuch looked friendly, he laughed before saying anything, he was very likable, no wonder he was the head of the first department.Ping An originally wanted a handyman around Eunuch Ma, so he came here on purpose.So Eunuch Cao didn't ask too much, Ping An followed Eunuch Ma's instructions, kowtowed to him reluctantly, and it was over.

He had already seen him, so Eunuch Ma said his goodbyes, but Eunuch Cao said, "No hurry, I have ordered someone to call the other apprentices, and I have something to discuss with you."

Eunuch Ma turned his head and asked, "But for the future of the Empress Dowager?"

Eunuch Cao smiled slightly, "I know you are a good-natured person, but you can detect any movement. It is for the future of the Empress Dowager after March. Let's talk about it together when someone comes."

Hearing this, eunuch Ma led Ping An to find a place to stand.Not long after, the other apprentices also came, exchanged a few words with Eunuch Cao and Eunuch Ma, and then got to the point.As for Ping An, they treated it as a background, and no one cared about it at all.

Ping An pricked up his ears, and listened to Eunuch Cao, "In three months' time, the Empress Dowager will be Qianqiu. The Emperor has a decree. Because it is a whole life, it needs to be lively. The former concubine Zheng Guifei said that we should There must be a lively new play. What do you say?"

"Since we want a new play, we need to defecate." A eunuch with a proud attitude said, "Our Yulouchun skills are good, as long as we have a copy, within three months, we will definitely be able to defecate."

The tone was really serious, but when Ping An peeked at it, no one else refuted it.It seems that Yu Louchun should be a powerful person.

However, Eunuch Ma suddenly frowned and said, "How can such a book be so easy to get because it needs to be suitable for the occasion, lively, and pleasing to the eye? I'm afraid there is no one in the palace who can write it, and the talented scholars outside are very arrogant." , just writing the notebook, I am afraid it will take two months, how can we wait!"

The man before said, "It's not difficult. Yulouchun knows several talented people, and the books they wrote are all popular in Beijing. I just ask him to think about it."

Hearing this, Eunuch Ma raised his head to look at Eunuch Cao, and shut up.Eunuch Cao thought for a while and said, "Forget it, let's try first. But you can't just rely on him. You should all get ready when you go back."

Everyone agreed, and then they dispersed.

Ping An followed behind Eunuch Ma, and Eunuch Ma didn't say a word all the way, obviously not very happy.Back in his yard, he handed over all the people he was in charge of, and told the matter.

A eunuch with red lips, white teeth and elegant white clothes snorted, "But, the empress dowager loves the operas sung by Yu Louchun the most. How can you not order him when you are free to watch an opera? Of course no one can compare! Let's all rest now."

"What are you talking about? Our little white dragon won't lose to him!" Another person shouted.

Hearing this, Ping An vaguely understood that the Bell and Drum Division seems to be similar to the Opera Garden, with its own famous actors and various intrigues. It's quite interesting to think about it.That Yulouchun is obviously the biggest character here, maybe he has been praised by the Queen Mother.But he is not under the name of eunuch Ma, and not everyone admires him, such as this little white dragon in white.

Seeing this situation, Ping An felt even more deeply about the phrase "Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes".But it turns out that it is not only the ordinary people who are living in difficulties, even the nine palaces and the royal family, there is no less fighting inside, maybe there will be more.

And I will hang around in this place in the future, and... there is no end date.

Ping An took a light breath, then let it out slowly, and slowly relaxed his clenched fists.His goal in life is to eat and wait to die, but when it is not feasible to eat and die, he doesn't mind fighting by himself.

Eunuch Ma said, "Although Yulouchun knows a lot of people, good books are not easy to get. If you have connections outside the palace, don't hide them anymore. This time, the Empress Dowager will live for a few years." There is no good opportunity, whether you can seize it or not depends on you."

Hearing the last sentence, everyone's expressions changed slightly.The people in the bell and drum department are also divided into several classes.The first class is of course in charge of the court bells and drums and inner music.But those are all elegant music, most of which are passed down from father to son, and it is not their turn for outsiders like them to learn.Even when passing brocade and beating rice, that is also the time when the great eunuchs show their faces.And the people here, all learn foreign opera.

The so-called foreign operas are naturally popular folk operas.When the dynasty was founded, these plays were not allowed in the palace.During the Xiandi Dynasty, because the empress loved foreign operas, the emperor ordered the bell and drum division to teach.And the queen at that time is now the empress dowager.

These people who study foreign operas only earn a living because the Empress Dowager likes them. Even in the Bell and Drum Division, their status is actually not high, and their foundation is shallow.No one knows if there will be other nobles who will like to listen to foreign dramas in the future, so naturally they will try their best to catch the empress dowager.If she can show her face in front of her old man, she will naturally have a bright future.

After listening to Ping An for a while, he began to worry.

In the following time, Eunuch Ma will go out of the palace to find connections, and Ping An will stay in the Bell and Drum Department to do errands for everyone.He handles things neatly and can speak with his mouth. Although he is tired all day, he has initially integrated into this new group.

The ancients only ate two meals a day, one meal at about Chen time after o'clock, that is, seven to nine in the morning, and one meal at Shen time, that is, three to five in the afternoon.Soon after Shenshi, Ping'an and another eunuch named Youfu were sent to the imperial dining room to get food boxes.

On the way, after two or three times of safety, I found out the situation of the meal from Youfu.Everyone in the palace eats in the cafeteria, and according to their different identities, they have their own rules.Little eunuchs like Ping An and the others only had the lowest regular dishes, and they could eat whatever was arranged in the imperial dining room.

Hearing this, Pingan was very worried, for fear that his portion would only be vegetarian.In modern times, Ping An never cared about the meat in the dishes, and sometimes deliberately picked out the meat and only ate the vegetables, thinking it was too greasy.However, after coming here for a while, Ping An has never eaten a bite of meat, and now thinking of meat makes his mouth water.

Fortunately, the situation is better than he thought.After all, it is in the palace, even the lowest rank of rough envoys, eunuchs and maids, has two muscles every month.It's still very little, but better than nothing.

However, Ping An looked at the faintly visible meat star in the dish, and thought silently in his heart, even if he wanted to eat better, he had to work hard to climb up.It's okay to eat this kind of food for a while, but he can't bear it for a lifetime!

Thinking about it this way, the originally vague idea of ​​struggle seemed to be more real.

I heard that eunuch Ma’s monthly portion is ten tendons, two chickens and ducks, two fish, and one egg per day. Besides, if there are seasonal dishes such as crabs and lobsters, or Lin Yuan paid tribute to wild game such as venison and rabbit meat, and it is possible to get some from the imperial dining room, which is much better than Ping An, who can only eat pork.

Of course, there are better paid ones above, but Ping An's ambitions are not enough, and it's almost enough to get mixed up to this point.