In the evening, with a thin mist, Liu Mu and two yamen runners returned to the Jingnan County Yamen under the setting sun. The first thing Liu Mu did when he came back was to take out the secret box from his arms and hand it to Zhu Ping'an with both hands.
Zhu Ping'an returned to the study and sent away Hua'er who wanted to follow him and serve him, as well as the curious girl Ruonan. After closing the door, he took out the key from his waist, opened the secret letter box, and took out the secret letter.
Be cautious when alone!
Zhu Ping'an was so careful because of the word "be cautious when alone". The secret memorial must be kept secret, whether it is written or read. If a word is leaked, it will be a serious crime punishable by death. Zhu Ping'an, the proposer of the secret memorial, must set an example.
In addition, the Ming Dynasty's factory guards were omnipresent. Now was the initial stage of secret memorials, and not many ministers were authorized to submit secret memorials. Zhu Ping'an was also worried that with the harshness and shrewdness of the Jiajing Emperor and his imperial skills, he might secretly order the factory guards to secretly monitor all ministers who were authorized to submit secret memorials.
It is always better to be cautious, especially in the political arena. The sea may seem calm, but there are actually undercurrents. Every seemingly ordinary move may lead to unpredictable consequences!
Zhu Ping'an took out the secret memorial and unfolded it gently. The Jiajing Emperor's handwritten reply appeared on the paper: "Your memorial is worthy of praise and I am very pleased. The south has been in turmoil recently, with Japanese pirates, floods, corruption, and even gossip. You don't have to stick to the size of the matter. Although I have the factory guards to investigate, you have received a great favor, but if you hear anything, you can write a memorial in person."
After reading the comments, Zhu Pingan understood what Emperor Jiajing meant. This meant that he wanted to be his eyes and ears in Jiangnan, to monitor any disturbance in Jiangnan for him. Zhu Pingan was not surprised at all. After all, one of the functions of the secret memorial itself was this. Through the eyes of the secret memorial ministers, the emperor could take in all the disturbances in the empire, take charge of the overall situation, and control everything. In this way, through the secret memorial system, the emperor developed the monarchy and centralization to its peak.
After reading it, Zhu Ping'an put the secret letter back into the letter box and locked it in a secret drawer in the study.
"Humph, you are so stingy. Who cares? Even if you bring it to me, I won't even look at it."
Outside the study, the enchantress Ruonan was sweeping the courtyard with a broom. When she saw Zhu Ping'an walking out of the study, she glanced at Zhu Ping'an with her nose not nose and her eyes not eyes, and said in a sarcastic tone.
"Don't look at anything inappropriate! The girl has the demeanor of a gentleman. Ping'an is ashamed of himself." Zhu Ping'an smiled and curled the corners of his mouth.
“So weird…” The enchantress Ruonan rolled her eyes.
"Haha, mutual..." Zhu Ping'an smiled faintly and shrugged slightly.
"We're sweeping the floor! A good dog doesn't block the road!"
The evil woman Ruonan was annoyed by Zhu Ping'an's laughter, so she swept the floor hard on purpose, and even swept towards Zhu Ping'an's feet.
"Then why are you blocking the way?" Zhu Ping'an said with a smile.
The demon girl Ruonan paused for two seconds, probably wanting to fight back against Zhu Pingan but not finding the words, she said with a fake smile: "The nerd has a sharp tongue, but I don't know which one is sharper than my fish dagger!"
As she spoke, the enchantress Ruonan performed a magic trick and a sharp dagger appeared in her hand.
The dagger flew around in her palm like a butterfly, and she just looked at Zhu Ping'an with a fake smile.
Zhu Ping'an shrugged his shoulders slightly, moved to the side, and walked past the evil woman Ruonan.
When the demon woman Ruonan saw Zhu Ping'an hiding away, a victorious smile immediately appeared on her fox face.
But before she could finish her smile, she heard Zhu Ping'an's voice coming from behind her, "Girl, you have great skills. Reward!"
Then, the demon girl Ruonan saw a small thing falling from the sky and subconsciously caught it with one hand.
Stretch out your palms.
A copper coin lay quietly in the palm of her hand.
Damn it! This nerd thinks he's a street juggler! Am I worth just one penny?!
Believe it or not, I will throw a dagger at you! The evil woman Ruonan turned her head and looked at Zhu Ping'an's back. She gritted her teeth and pointed the dagger at Zhu Ping'an's back. She pointed it at Zhu Ping'an's head and shook her head. Forget it, the nerd relies on his head... She pointed it at Zhu Ping'an's arm and shook her head again. Forget it, the nerd still relies on his hands to hold the pen... She pointed it at Zhu Ping'an's leg and shook her head again. Forget it, if the nerd limped, Hua'er would cry...
snort!
You're lucky you ran fast! Otherwise, I'd definitely give you a slap in the face. Let's see if you can still be so sharp-tongued.
The evil woman Ruonan snorted and put away the dagger.
Three days after Zhu Ping'an received the secret memorial brought back by Liu Mu, the Jingnan County Court welcomed three distinguished guests from the capital - a young eunuch and two accompanying men from the East Factory.
Zhu Ping'an led a group of clerks from the county government to welcome them at the county government office.
"Master Zhu, there is no need to be so polite. You can all leave. This is not his business. I have been ordered to retrieve the original secret memorial."
The young eunuch said to Zhu Ping'an with a smile, and waved his hand to dismiss all the clerks in the county government.
Recover the original secret folder!
Upon hearing this, Zhu Ping'an could not help but admire Emperor Jiajing with all his heart! Emperor Jiajing is worthy of being Emperor Jiajing, his political acumen and wisdom are truly unrivaled in the world! In the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Kangxi invented the secret memorial, and then Emperor Yongzheng. After decades of implementation, Emperor Yongzheng ordered the collection of the original secret memorial. The secret memorials that Zhu had reviewed were sent back to the secret memorial ministers. After a period of time, the secret memorials were to be collected again and kept in secret in the palace. The ministers were not allowed to copy, keep, or hide them, otherwise they would be severely punished. So far, the secret memorials have formed a closed procedure from submission, transfer, review, return, and collection.
It took the Qing Dynasty decades of practice before they thought of collecting the original secret memorials to ensure their confidentiality! However, Emperor Jiajing had only tried the secret memorials for a few dozen days before he thought of collecting them!
Emperor Jiajing is truly an emperor of all ages. Zhu Ping'an admires him very much and thinks that if Emperor Jiajing had not been distracted by cultivating immortals and refining elixirs, the Ming Dynasty would have surely experienced a revival in his hands!
What a pity! There is no such thing as perfect in the world.
Zhu Pingan sighed in his heart, but his face remained calm as he led the young eunuch and two Dongchang guards to the study room in the backyard of the county government office. In front of the young eunuch and two Dongchang guards, Zhu Pingan unlocked the hidden drawer in the study room, took out the secret box, and then paused.
"I'm sorry, eunuch, could you tell me how to retrieve the secret letter?!" Zhu Ping'an held the secret letter box tightly and asked seriously, confirming whether the young eunuch could ensure that there would be no leakage during the retrieval process.
"Haha, Lord Zhu, please rest assured. I brought a recovery box. Lord Zhu put the secret letter into the box personally, and then I locked it in front of Lord Zhu. This lock has only one key, and it is in the hands of His Majesty. The secret will never be leaked in the middle." The little eunuch replied with a smile, and then showed the secret letter box and a lock that had been opened in advance.
It is better to be safe than sorry. After Zhu Ping'an confirmed the recovery box and the lock, he asked the eunuch to sign a receipt, then he opened the secret letter box and put the secret letter into the eunuch's recovery box. The eunuch locked the recovery box in front of Zhu Ping'an and carefully put it close to his body.
"I'm sorry, Lord Zhu. I still need to check Lord Zhu's study. I'm also following orders. I want to confirm whether there are any copies left." The young eunuch apologized to Zhu Ping'an.
"Please, sir." Zhu Ping'an naturally had no objection.
The young eunuch and two Dongchang men checked Zhu Ping'an's study and confirmed that there were no copies left.
The young eunuch nodded in satisfaction, said goodbye to Zhu Ping'an, and returned to the capital without stopping for a moment to report. (To be continued)