After forming an alliance with Luo Sigong, Shen Yicheng knew everything that Luo Sigong knew, but there was one thing that neither of them knew, and that was what the emperor's trusted eunuch, Zhang Cheng, was doing in the dark.
Since the establishment of the East Faction Guards and Factory Guards, one of the most important responsibilities of the East Faction Guards was to manage and supervise the Imperial Bodyguard.
The cause of this incident was Ji Gang, the commander of the Imperial Bodyguard during the Yongle period, plotted to rebel. This incident shocked Zhu Di greatly. From then on, Zhu Di did not trust the Imperial Bodyguard, so he set up the East Faction Guards, who were his trusted eunuchs, to supervise the actions of the Imperial Bodyguard.
Ji Gang could rebel, but the eunuch could not. He could only rely on the emperor to maintain the emperor's power in order to ensure his own power. Therefore, the eunuch was more trustworthy than the commander of the Imperial Bodyguard, and this rule continued.
Of course, there were times when this situation changed. For example, during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor, Lu Bing, the commander of the Imperial Bodyguard at that time, was the elder brother of the Jiajing Emperor and saved his life. After he became the commander of the Imperial Bodyguard, who else could gain the trust of the Jiajing Emperor more than him?
Thus, when he was in charge of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Embroidered Uniform Guard could do whatever they wanted, and the East Faction Guards did not dare to interfere. After that, the East Faction Guards did as they pleased, and it was still the same now. The East Faction Guards still suppressed the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the East Faction Guards would definitely know about the Embroidered Uniform Guard's actions.
After Zhang Jing overthrew Feng Bao and became the supervisor of the East Faction Guards, this suppression increased. He even threw the blame in front of the emperor, but for the emperor, the betrayal of the East Faction Guards was more intolerable than the betrayal of the Imperial Bodyguard, so Zhang Jing was soon secretly removed.
According to Luo Sigong's investigation, Zhang Jing was called to the palace by Zhu Yijun to drink tea, and then he was directly poisoned without any chance to explain.
At that time, Luo Sigong was so frightened that he didn't sleep well for a few days. He was afraid that he would be called to the palace by Zhu Yijun to drink a cup of tea and then be poisoned to death.
Later, he found out that Zhu Yijun had not found someone who could take over his position, so he suspended the action. Zhang Jing obviously had a successor. Zhu Yijun chose someone he trusted, so Zhang Jing died.
Zhang Jing's successor was Zhang Cheng, who was now in charge of the East Faction Guards.
As soon as Zhang Cheng took office, he made the East Faction Guards very mysterious. If the Imperial Bodyguard had a good understanding of the East Faction Guards before, then the Imperial Bodyguard was completely blind to the East Faction Guards now.
This was because Zhang Cheng had changed the entire structure of the East Factory in Beijing. Zhang Cheng was not worried that it would cause chaos in the East Factory. Anyway, he did not need to use the people he did not trust. If it was the management, he would take them down immediately.
Previously, Luo Sigong had been unable to get any news from the East Faction Guards for a month.
When the situation with Zhang Cheng became a little more relaxed, Luo Sigong contacted the spy he had sent to the East Faction Guards and found out a lot of information.
Although the East Faction Guards and the Imperial Bodyguard had a supervisory relationship, it was not a subordinate relationship. The Imperial Bodyguard was still an independent entity. Compared to the East Faction Guards, which focused on serving the emperor and controlling the capital and mines, the Imperial Bodyguard was more inclined to control the intelligence within the country and spy on the outside world.
The East Faction Guards was the focus of control, and the Imperial Bodyguard spread their net everywhere.
Therefore, the Imperial Bodyguard was naturally dissatisfied with the situation of being suppressed by the East Faction Guards. It was understandable for them to send a few spies. Similarly, the East Faction Guards must also have spies within the Imperial Bodyguard.
This kind of open secret was tacitly understood by everyone. Even if it was discovered, they had to pretend that it was not discovered. At most, they would be marginalized and could not shed all pretense of cordiality. However, under the open secret, if there was no trump card, then it would be underestimating the spies.
On the one hand, Zhang Cheng was cleaning up the remaining forces left by Zhang Jing to ensure his own position, and on the other hand, he was also eliminating the untrustworthy people to ensure the loyalty of the East Faction Guards to the emperor.
In other words, he had shed all pretense of cordiality. No matter what, the open secret was abolished, and the remaining trump card was also under strict investigation. During that month, Luo Sigong really could not eat or sleep in peace.
Fortunately, Zhang Cheng was not a professional, or at least, he was not a professional at the moment, at least not as professional as Zhang Jing.
Zhang Cheng had just taken over the East Faction Guards, and before he had time to sort out many of the internal problems of the East Faction Guards, he was given a lot of things by the emperor. He was unable to split himself and had insufficient energy, which gave Luo Sigong an opportunity to take advantage of.
Even so, after Luo Sigong recovered, even though he found that his trump card had not been discovered, he still did not find out Zhang Cheng's secret. He did not know what Zhang Cheng was doing sneakily.
He only knew that the upper echelons of the East Faction Guards had been purged, and all the people who could come into contact with Zhang Cheng were Zhang Cheng's own old subordinates. They were very loyal, and their mouths were as tightly shut as iron, almost cutting off contact with Zhang Cheng from the lower echelons.
When Luo Sigong decided to join forces with Shen Yicheng to seek a chance of survival, he did not know what Zhang Cheng was doing. However, he vaguely knew that Zhang Cheng had left the palace and left the capital several times in the middle of the night. The interval was short, and the time he stayed outside the palace was not long. It was very strange.
After further inquiries, the cabinet issued an order to recall Xiao Ruxun and the meritorious soldiers back to the capital to participate in the prisoner offering ceremony.
At the same time, Luo Sigong and Shen Yicheng reached an urgent agreement —
If Luo Sigong found out Zhang Cheng's whereabouts and purpose, Shen Yicheng would absolutely guarantee that Luo Sigong and his trusted subordinates would be rich and powerful.
Thus, Luo Sigong gave his trump card a death order: find out Zhang Cheng's whereabouts at all costs, find out what Zhang Cheng was doing, and what purpose he had, and it had to be completed before Xiao Ruxun returned to the capital. If he could not complete it, he could forget about getting Shen Yicheng's protection.
Luo Sigong did not place his hopes on one person. This matter was too important. Luo Sigong used the advantage of the Imperial Bodyguard's wide spread net. Based on the time Zhang Cheng left the palace and returned to the palace, he determined that Zhang Cheng's range of action was around the capital, and thus began a secret search.
At this moment, the refugees who had gathered around the capital because of the famine in the 25th year of Wanli had been dispersed to the northwest and southeast sides of the capital. The purpose of opening up the north-south passage was to allow the triumphant return of Xiao Ruxun's troops to smoothly reach the capital.
Before this, the news of the end of the war had reached the capital, and the news that there was food in Shanxi had also reached the capital. Many refugees who could not eat their fill decided to migrate to Shanxi. The flow of people was very fast, and the order was rather chaotic. This provided a good opportunity for the Imperial Bodyguard to mix in with the refugees.
After a period of incognito travel, the principle that there were no walls in the world that could not be penetrated was once again proven. Luo Sigong finally grasped the secret in Zhang Cheng's hands, and on the morning that Xiao Ruxun arrived in the capital, he delivered this news to Shen Yicheng.
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