Emperor Ming Fengyunlu

Volume 5: Lying on the salary and tasting the guts

Chapter 3 Social turmoil and turmoil

Section 8 Red Pill Suspicion (I)

After Emperor Taichang succeeded to the throne, he knew that he was facing a situation full of holes, so in order to win the support of the courtiers as soon as possible and establish his prestige, so as to gather all the energy of the imperial court to deal with the current difficulties, Emperor Taichang issued two orders in the month of his succession, ordering the household department to issue 1 million taels of silver to reward the border guards in Liaodong and other places, and at the same time to remove the mining tax and the tax, withdraw the mining tax envoys from all over the Ming Dynasty, and add cabinet ministers and operation centers in the court, and "moved the government and the opposition" for a while.

Just when the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty thought that after the new monarch of Emperor Taichang succeeded to the throne, they would do something, but they didn't want to be ten days after the enthronement ceremony, Emperor Taichang suddenly fell ill without any warning, and the originally planned celebration of the Wanshou Festival was canceled.

Seeing this, the first assistant of the cabinet, Congzhe, can be said to be anxious, not long after Emperor Wanli returned to heaven, the new emperor Taichang fell seriously ill again, is the Ming really going to experience the story of frequent changes in imperial power in the Later Han Dynasty?

On this day, Fang Congzhe was discussing with Huang Jiashan, Li Ruhua and other six Shangshu in the palace how to stabilize the court situation, and suddenly a eunuch in the inner court sent an urgent official letter. Fang Congzhe and the others were shocked, and hurriedly opened it and looked at it. It turned out that Emperor Taichang was worried that his condition would deteriorate further, so he went to the doctor in a disorderly manner, and yesterday he actually dismissed the medical officers of the Tai Hospital without authorization, and asked the chamberlain Cui Wensheng to see him. This Cui Wensheng didn't know medical science at all, he just pretended to prescribe a prescription, who knew that Emperor Taichang couldn't stop diarrhea after taking medicine according to the prescription, and he went to the toilet thirty or forty times overnight, and is now unconscious.

After Fang Congzhe finished reading it, his color immediately changed, and he exclaimed: "Your Majesty is so confused! How good is that! ”

And Huang Jiashan on the side shouted angrily: "This Cui Wensheng should be killed!" The Nine Clans should be exterminated! ”

Ignoring anything else, Fang Congzhe hurriedly sent someone to call all the ministers, and beckoned the six Shangshu to rush to the palace together. And when everyone rushed to Taihemen, the inner court was already in chaos, Emperor Taichang had already been unconscious for a long time, and the imperial doctors did not know what medicine Emperor Taichang had taken, so they couldn't prescribe the right medicine for a while, and they were all helpless.

It wasn't until noon that several imperial physicians came out of the palace. The foreman's imperial doctor is over seventy years old, and he has a deep relationship with Fang Congzhe on weekdays, and as soon as they met, he lowered his voice and said, "Elder Ge must be mentally prepared."

Fang Congzhe's heart couldn't help but sink when he heard this, and asked, "Your Majesty is in the prime of life, how could he suddenly become ill like this?"

The old lady shook his head and said, "Freezing three feet, it's not a day's cold!" His Majesty's essence damage is too severe, so the imperial doctors have always used drugs such as Gujing Jianzhong. This kind of drug is a slow work, how can the gods grasp it? The emperor complained that the service was ineffective, and he abused the prescription privately, so that our months of treatment were ruined, and His Majesty's dragon body was hollowed out between this repair and loss. "

Fang Congzhe blurted out, "Isn't it difficult to handle?"

The old lady doctor sighed and said, "If Your Majesty hadn't used quack medicine indiscriminately, it would still be possible to slowly regulate it with the medicine of blood congestion and sperm generation, but now...... Alas! "

When Fang Congzhe heard this, he suddenly felt that his eyes were dark, if it weren't for the ministers around him who quickly helped him, he would have fallen to the ground a long time ago.

Huang Jiashan on the side was even more furious when he heard this, and shouted loudly: "Someone! Arrest that Cui Wensheng for me, put him in prison and torture him severely! ”

Everyone was talking, but suddenly heard a loud paging from the Taihe Gate: "The emperor urgently summoned the first assistant of the cabinet and the six Shangshu to enter the palace to meet him!"

Fang Congzhe and the others didn't dare to slack off when they heard this, and quickly entered the Qianqing Palace. When everyone saw Emperor Taichang, they saw that his face was haggard, shaped like dead wood, his face was sallow, and his eyes were blank, and he was already terminally ill! Everyone was terrified when they saw it.

At this time, Emperor Taichang stretched out a trembling hand to hold Fang Congzhe and said, "I have been dizzy and weak in the past few days, and I can't come to the court.

Fang Congzhe hurriedly said: "Your Majesty's grace is vast, do you dare to do your best to serve the country?"

Emperor Taichang smiled bitterly and continued: "The old man of the political cabinet of the court can be approved by Zhu on behalf of me, the prince is cowardly by nature, and he hopes that Mr. will support him more in the future, and the wives and concubines of the harem have not yet had time to be canonized, so Mr. can still draw up the title and order the household department to canonize it." These words of Emperor Taichang are undoubtedly explaining the future.

Fang Congzhe hurriedly comforted when he heard this: "Your Majesty is rich in the Spring and Autumn Period, but now it is only an occasional minor illness, there is no major problem, as long as Your Majesty can recover in a few days with peace of mind, don't mistakenly believe the rumors and practice the dragon body."

Emperor Taichang shook his head, didn't pay attention to Fang Congzhe's words, but suddenly asked, "Is the Shou Palace ready?"

Fang Congzhe suddenly felt very embarrassed when he heard this, and thought for a while before saying: "Your Majesty, rest assured, Emperor Daxing has been buried, and the Tianshou Mountain Underground Palace has also begun to restore the earth the day before yesterday......"

But before Fang Congzhe could finish speaking, Emperor Taichang interrupted him and said, "I am asking about the Shou Palace of Me."

As soon as these words came out, Fang Congzhe and the six Shangshu behind him suddenly fell to their knees, and their hearts were shocked for a while. Fang Congzhe hurriedly persuaded in a trembling voice: "The imperial doctor of the Tai Hospital has reported that Your Majesty is only physically weak at present, where will there be a collapse of the heavens and the earth?"

Emperor Taichang said with a little annoyance: "There are a bunch of quacks in the Tai Hospital, and I can't trust them."

Fang Congzhe said: "If Your Majesty can't trust the Tai Hospital, then the minister will immediately spread the word to the world and summon famous doctors to enter the palace, and Your Majesty must not say unlucky things again."

When he heard the words of Guangzhao Famous Doctor, Emperor Taichang seemed to think of something, so he asked: "I heard that there are officials from Honglu Temple who came to take medicine, why haven't you sent it now?"

Fang Congzhe thought for a moment, and then said: "Your Majesty, Li Kezhuo of Honglu Temple did say that he had an immortal prescription that could cure His Majesty's illness, but after the ministers discussed it with the cabinet ministers, they thought that Li Kezhuo's words should not be believed. Therefore, the old minister has repelled Li Kezhuo. "

After hearing this, Emperor Taichang's face suddenly turned disgusted, and he said: "The imperial doctor is useless, and the immortal prescription is not credible, do you tell me to be killed?"

Fang Congzhe was so frightened that he kowtowed again and again and said, "How dare Weichen do this? It's just that Li Kezhuo's words are not credible, and the immortal Fang's words are even more nonsense. The rest of the six Shangshu also all gave advice, hoping that Emperor Taichang would believe in the Tai Hospital's Tai Doctor and not believe in any immortal prescriptions.

Emperor Taichang was a little irritated when he heard this, waved his hand, and the other party said from Zhe: "Pavilion Lao Ma sent an edict, I want to try Li Kezhuo's immortal formula."

Fang Congzhe knew in his heart that since Emperor Jiajing, the grandfather of Emperor Wanli, all the emperors of the Ming Dynasty have believed in Taoism and sought to refine the elixir of immortality, and this trend has been around for a long time. Now it seems that Emperor Taichang is also convinced of the "immortal formula", and in desperation, Fang Congzhe had no choice but to shirk and say: "After the ministers discuss with the six ministries and nine qing, I will come to your majesty."

Emperor Taichang waved his hand and motioned for Fang Congzhe to stop talking. Fang Congzhe and the six Shangshu hurriedly retreated.

For the next three days, Emperor Taichang kept sending people to ask Fang Congzhe: "Has Li Kezhuo's elixir been sent?" And Fang Congzhe just kept prevaricating, wanting to delay a little longer, so that the doctors of the Taichang Hospital could take medicine as soon as possible, so that Emperor Taichang's condition could improve.

But on the afternoon of the third day, Emperor Taichang's personal eunuch came to Tiren Pavilion, read the holy decree in public, and ordered Fang Congzhe to send Li Kezhuo and the elixir he refined into the palace. Seeing this, Fang Congzhe was full of helplessness, so he had to agree with the cabinet minister Han Huoguang that the two of them would accompany Li Kezhuo, the Cheng of Honglu Temple, to carry the medicine they had entered the palace, and the two of them would act when the time came.

Li Kezhuo of Honglu Temple is an old man fifty miles away, his demeanor is elegant, it is indeed a bit of a fairy wind, and the "elixir" he entered is contained in a very simple brocade box, and he took Fang Congzhe and Han Huoguang to the Taichang Emperor's dormitory.

Along the way, according to Li Kezhuo's own words: The immortal prescription for refining this elixir was when he was young, and he met an immortal chief in the process of collecting medicine in Mount Emei, and the medicinal materials were collected from the fairyland of Shenfu, which can cure all diseases in the world. In this regard, Fang Congzhe and Han Huoguang both scoffed, and both of them ignored Li Kezhuo's chatter, but kept thinking in their hearts about how to persuade Emperor Taichang for a while.

After the three of them saw Emperor Taichang, they saw that Emperor Taichang looked even thinner than a few days ago, and the whole person looked extremely weak from a distance. However, Emperor Taichang's consciousness was very clear, and when he saw Fang Congzhe and the others coming in, he immediately asked, "Have you ever brought the elixir?"

Fang Congzhe knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, Li Kezhuo has brought the immortal medicine into the palace, but whether the elixir he made can cure the disease, the minister still does not dare to say anything, and please make a clear decision." At this time, Li Kezhuo also knelt behind with the "elixir" in his hand.

Emperor Taichang was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly signaled the eunuchs around him to present the "elixir". And the eunuch and Fang Congzhe were both hesitant, and no one stepped forward to take the elixir. At this time, Li Kezhuo saw the suspicious looks of the people around him, so he persuaded Emperor Taichang to wait for a while, and then took a pill by himself; After a long time, Li Kezhuo was still radiant and there was nothing unusual, so Fang Congzhe and Han Huoguang were more relieved.

And Emperor Taichang had already waited impatiently, hurriedly ordered someone to fetch water, and hurriedly swallowed the red pill known as the "elixir".

At the moment when Emperor Taichang ate the "elixir", Fang Congzhe only felt that his heart was about to jump out, and his eyes stared directly at Emperor Taichang's every move, for fear that something would go wrong.

However, after Emperor Taichang took the "elixir", he didn't seem to have any unusual feelings, and Fang Congzhe's nervous mood calmed down a little.