The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 239 The Ruined Palace
As night fell, the imperial city of Jinling was shrouded in darkness.

This seems to be in stark contrast to the bright lights outside.

Wanli looked at the darkness above the imperial city, then turned back to look at the lights of Jinling City, and his face was filled with strange expression.

What's going on here?

Although there are less than a hundred eunuchs left in the Jinling Imperial City, there is still one garrison left behind. There are at least three to four thousand people in one garrison. Why does it seem that there is no light at all in the Imperial City?

He was just beginning to wonder when a young eunuch in his twenties came out with a group of followers and asked cautiously, "Are you the Imperial Guards?"

This guy is Tian Yi, the eunuch guarding Nanjing.

Logically speaking, the eunuchs assigned to Nanjing for garrison should all be retired eunuchs from the capital.

How come this is a young eunuch?

In fact, this was arranged by Wanli.

Tian Yi is also his confidant and grew up with him.

However, Tian Yi was more mature and capable than Sun Hai and Ke Yong, and was very careful in his work, so he was not dealt with by Empress Dowager Li and Zhang Juzheng.

Wanli probably thought it would be difficult for Tian Yi to be promoted to the position of Chief Secretary of the Imperial Household Department if he stayed in the imperial palace in the capital, so he simply sent Tian Yi to Nanjing to serve as a garrison eunuch.

In this way, once he came to power, he could transfer Tian Yi back to take charge of the Imperial Household Department.

In history, Tian Yizhen returned to the capital and took charge of the Imperial Household Department for more than ten years.

This time he might be able to take the kid back directly.

Wanli was just recalling when Shan Sinan turned around and looked at him.

This guy obviously won't let them in easily. Should he show his badge to others?
Seeing this, Wanli waved directly at Sun Hai.

Sun Hai couldn't wait to ride forward and said with a smile: "Xiaoyi, you are still so rigid. Can we still deceive people by pretending to be the imperial guards?"

Seeing this, Tian Yi couldn't help but widen his eyes and asked in surprise: "Xiao Hai, why are you here?"

This cannot be said outside.

His Majesty didn't want anyone to know he was coming.

Sun Hai said mysteriously: "Let's go in and talk."

All his childhood playmates were here, and this guy seemed to have become a favorite of the Emperor, so Tian Yi naturally wouldn't doubt anything anymore.

He nodded immediately and waved his hand for the guards blocking the door to move aside.

Upon seeing this, Shan Sinan ordered a team of imperial guards to dismount and stand guard outside the right gate of Chang'an. He handed their war horses to Tian Yi and the eunuchs accompanying him, and the group rode into the imperial city.

Wanli didn't say a word, he just followed the thousands of imperial guards into the imperial city silently.

Only then did he realize that there were still some lights in the imperial city, but they were sparse and looked quite dim.

The area of ​​the Jinling Imperial City seems to be less than half the size of the Beijing Imperial City. Enter from the right gate of Chang'an, turn west past the Altar of Grain and Country, and you will reach the internal affairs office. Go north and you will reach the Xihua Gate leading to the imperial palace.

In the dim light, he could vaguely see a low government office and the towering walls of the imperial palace.

After Tian Yi led them to the Inner Palace Supervisory Office, he couldn't help but ask, "Xiao Hai, what on earth are you doing here with so many Imperial Guards?"

I don’t know how to say this.

Upon hearing this, Sun Hai simply looked at Wanli.

Now that we've entered the imperial city, there's no need to be sneaky.

Wanli rode forward and asked curiously, "Xiaoyi, why are there only a few lights in this imperial city?"

This is?

Long live the Lord!
Tian Yi took a look in the dim light and couldn't help shaking with excitement.

He rolled onto the ground as if he had fallen off his horse, crawled to Wanli, and kowtowed excitedly, saying, "Your servant greets His Majesty."

The eunuchs who were accompanying him also quickly dismounted and lay behind him.

Wanli nodded slightly, then raised his hand and said, "Get up. I don't want anyone to know about this for the time being. Don't spread it around."

Tian Yi quickly got up and said in a trembling voice, "I understand."

Wanli looked at the dark palace and couldn't help asking, "Why don't you light a few more lights?"

Upon hearing this, Tian Yi quickly waved his hand and said, "Hurry, go and light up all the lanterns in the palace." Upon hearing this, the eunuchs who were accompanying him hurriedly walked towards Xihua Gate.

Tian Yi then explained, "Your Majesty, lamp oil is quite expensive. It would cost a lot of money to light all the lamps every night.

Besides, we don't have enough manpower to watch all the places in the palace all night. Too many lights will easily cause fires. There have been several fires here before I came here. So, I ordered people to light fewer lights at night, and all the lights that are lit must be watched all night. "

Oh, that's what happened.

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Is this palace still habitable?"

Of course we can. Even if we don’t clean where we live, we must clean the imperial palace, especially the Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace.

Tian Yi nodded repeatedly and said, "It's suitable for living. The servants in Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace clean them every day, and the bedding and blankets inside are taken out to dry in the sun as soon as the sun comes out."

Well, yes, this guy is indeed careful in his work.

Wanli nodded with satisfaction, then waved his hand and said, "Let's go, take me in to have a look first."

Upon hearing this, Tian Yi quickly mounted his horse and led them into the palace through Xihua Gate.

The Jinling Imperial Palace is much smaller than the imperial palace in Beijing. There is a bridge after you enter Xihua Gate and pass Wuying Gate. After crossing the bridge, go north through Wuying Hall, Rouyi Hall and West Palace, then turn east to reach the Qianqing Palace.

There were few eunuchs in the entire palace, let alone palace maids.

At this moment, all the lanterns inside were lit.

However, it would have been fine if it wasn't lit. Once it was lit, Wanli frowned.

Because the Jinling Imperial Palace had been in disrepair for many years, the glazed tiles had lost their luster, the walls were peeling in many places, and the paint on all the wooden pillars, railings, doors and windows had almost fallen off. Some doors and windows were even crooked, and it looked as shabby as it could be.

There was no way around it, because repairing the imperial palace was too expensive, costing tens or even hundreds of millions of taels. The imperial palace in the capital was rarely repaired, let alone the Nanjing Palace.

It seems I can only make do with this place.

Wanli dismounted in the square in front of the Qianqing Palace and took everyone inside for a look. He then asked, "Xiaolan, what do you think? How about we stay in the Qianqing Palace?"

Upon hearing this, Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan nodded repeatedly and said, "Okay, it's quite clean in here, but the bedding and blankets are a bit worn out. It just so happens that we brought a lot with us, so we can just change them."

She is not at all spoiled and is very generous.

When Tian Yi heard this, he couldn't help but be stunned.

He didn't even notice that there was a woman following Wanli, because the person was too tall and was wearing the military uniform of an imperial guard officer. If you didn't look closely, you would think she was just a handsome man.

Seeing this, Wanli smiled slightly and said, "Xiaoyi, this is the Imperial Noble Consort."

Upon hearing this, Tian Yi hurriedly bowed and said, "Greetings to Her Majesty the Imperial Concubine."

Wanli thought for a moment, then asked, "Xiaoyi, it seems the barracks of the Imperial Guards Left and Right are inside the Imperial City. Are they still habitable?"

Uh, this.

We can't manage so many barracks.

Tian Yi said carefully, "Your Majesty, the Imperial Guards still live in the barracks of the Left Guards, and the barracks of the Right Guards haven't been cleaned for decades."

It's probably full of hair in there.

Wanli nodded slightly and pondered, "Alright then. Later, the Imperial Guards and the Embroidered Uniform Guards will come over to move things. You can arrange for the Imperial Guards to camp in the open space of the Imperial Palace, and the Embroidered Uniform Guards to camp in the open space of the Imperial City."

Tian Yi quickly bowed and said, "I obey your command."

This time, I finally settled down in Jinling.

Then there was the question of shipbuilding.

At the moment, he didn't know much about the situation in Jinling, so he had to find a local tyrant to find out more.

Wanli thought for a moment, then asked, "Xiaoyi, what kind of person is the Duke of Wei?"

How do you say this?

Tian Yi thought for a moment, then said carefully, "Duke Wei is a loyal, upright, and kind person, but he's a little old."

It’s good to be older. The older you are, the more you know.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Well, tomorrow morning, send a trusted confidant over and tell him to keep it secret and come to the palace to see the emperor around noon."

The reason why he was so cautious was that he did not bring many troops with him, and Shen Shixing, Xu Xijue and Xu Guo were all from Nanzhili. This place was equivalent to the territory of Shen Shixing's party, so he had to be on guard.

(End of this chapter)