―――――――― Dividing Line――――――――

On the fifth day of October, it rained heavily in Beijing.

This is the first heavy rain in the long drought after the Ming Dynasty entered the autumn, and it was a heavy rain, from noon to nightfall. The torrential rain poured down, there was no trace on the street, the bluestone pavement was washed clean and clear by the rain, and the lanterns under the platform on the third and second floors flashed faintly bright.

There are no traces on the street, but from the direction of the Forbidden City, there are elite knights of the forbidden army on the twenty-six guards from time to time, riding horses and whips, going to all corners of the capital, and even going out of the city through various city gates, escaping without a trace. The knights, dressed in robes, leaned slightly to avoid the rain, and the sturdy horses swept along the rain-soaked road, and the waves of the bowl-sized horses' hooves were instantly smoothed by the heavy rain, and flowed with a roar, leaving no trace.

Although it is already late autumn, it is not much use for such a rain, but it can really alleviate the drought in the northland. This year's drought in the north is really too much in the eyes, and the entire Henan political envoy is half of Shaanxi in the east, and half of Shanxi in the north, and even Beizhili and Jingshi have been affected.

On this land, I don't know how many people are rejoicing at the moment, but the Forbidden City is shrouded in a gloomy fog.

Longzong outside the courtroom.

This is where the cabinet office is located, the furnishings are quite simple, it is a big long room, roughly four or five rooms, there are a lot of tables and chairs, because it has entered the late autumn, so there are more than a dozen stoves on the ground against the wall. Exudes warmth.

If it weren't for these stoves, it would be inferior to the residences of the daughters of the Huanyi Bureau.

Although rudimentary. But it is the political center of the entire Ming Dynasty, the temple of civil officials, and the cornerstone of the rule of the Ming Dynasty! Eventually, one day. I don't know how many important orders have been issued from here, and the memoranda that the emperor wants to approve must pass through here before they can be seen to the emperor, and if the emperor's will is not in line with their wishes, these ministers have the right not to hold the seal. At a time when some emperors were weak and their courtiers were strong, here. Instead of the emperor's Qianqing Palace, it is the real supreme ruling center of the Ming Dynasty!

For example, the Longqing Dynasty, the Hongzhi Dynasty, for example, the first ten years and the last twenty-eight years of the Wanli Dynasty, these emperors either let the civil servants obey the rule, or they worked with the civil officials all their lives, but found that they couldn't do anything to the civil officials. And there was also a scolding between the government and the opposition, so he could only honestly shrink in the harem to make a villain.

The Cabinet is powerful, and that's it!

Even during the reign of such a strong emperor as Emperor Zhengde, the power of the cabinet cannot be ignored, and Zhengde has many times. It is also necessary to make concessions to the cabinet, and of course, the cabinet will also make concessions to him, and the two are more of a mutual compromise. Because to put it bluntly, governing the country is inseparable from civil officials, and without them, the emperor can't do anything at all, just waiting for the mountains of twists and turns!

Even if all these eye-catching cabinet ministers in front of them are killed and replaced with a new batch of new ones, as long as they are still civil officials, they are still orthodox Jinshi backgrounds, and they are inextricably linked to that huge civilian group, then they will act in the same way as the previous ones. Because what they do, the first thing they consider must be the interests of the civilian clique!

Unless the two emperors, such as the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang and the Yongle Emperor Zhu Di, are so courageous, so prestigious, and so strong in controlling the inside and outside of the court, and the army and court, can they unscrupulously kill, kill people's heads, and kill everyone like a cicada, then it will be. …,

But these two are only two.

In fact, in Lian Zining's time and space, in addition to those two, the third in the entire Ming Dynasty is Emperor Jiajing, who is now in Huguang's hometown as the prince of Anle, King Anlu, this master is a good hand at playing with people's hearts, extremely insidious, and counts everyone between applause. Although Emperor Zhengde is strong enough, he is not rigid, rigid is easy to break, and it is easy to neglect some problems, and the rigid one is also easy to lose his temper, and the liver fire is too big, he is easy to get sick, and the general life span is not very long.

This supreme was originally a good body that he had been boiling since he was a child, he inspected Xuanfu Datong when he was young, and he was also a pro-conquest of King Ning's rebellion, controlling the fierce horse, and opening a strong bow, all of which were not a problem, and this kind of good body was on the other hand, and it was also vividly embodied - I didn't know how many beautiful women were raised in the leopard room, and they were whipped every day, which was also extremely physically demanding, but on the second day, the emperor could still appear in front of the courtiers with great spirits.

But since that time in the fifteenth year of Zhengde, it has not been.

In the fifteenth year of Zhengde, when playing in Qingjiangpu on the Yellow River, he accidentally fell into the water, and after being salvaged up, he vomited blood, his face turned blue, and he was cold, and the result was that he was seriously ill for three months, and almost died of a whimper, and finally God blessed, and finally fished a small life back. It took another year of slow recuperation, and it was not until the seventeenth year of Zhengde that it was all cured, but this serious illness was also a great loss to the body, completely leaving the root of the disease, and since then, the body has slowly failed.

Although it doesn't look much on the surface, it is still fierce, but from time to time there will be a serious illness.

When Zhengde was forty-nine years old, he was sick for half a year, and he was almost unable to serve.

And this time, it was even more direct vomiting and fainting.

In the courtroom, the first assistant, the second assistant, and the third assistant of the cabinet, as well as the six Shangshu and the nine highest-ranking civil officials of the Ming Dynasty, are anxiously waiting for the news that the East Warm Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace will come at any time.

Yang Shen, the first assistant of the cabinet, Xie Tingshi, the second assistant of the cabinet, Lin Jingyi, the third assistant of the cabinet, Dong Qichang, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, etc., these most powerful people in the Ming Dynasty are concentrated here, of course. There is also Dai Zhangpu, who has just taken the position of the left squire of the Ministry of War, who is temporarily acting as the secretary of the Ministry of War, except for Dai Zhangpu, who is just not confused, and is the youngest. Most of the other important ministers have already passed the time of knowing the destiny of heaven and looked at it at a glance. A piece of husk.

Outside, the wind and rain were fierce, lightning and thunder were roaring, but everyone was silent, just staring in the direction of the Qianqing Palace, full of worry.

Nor can they not be worried.

Today was supposed to be the day of the Great Imperial Meeting, and all the courtiers in the capital and the local ministers who had important business to come to Beijing on business or were recruited by the imperial court had already prepared outside the noon gate and lined up in line. I was ready to enter the palace, but I didn't expect to turn into elbows and armpits. The palace door was not opened on time, and the chief eunuch Lin Xiongqi personally came out to pass the order, saying that the emperor was slightly ill, and he would not go to court today, but just let the three auxiliary ministers of the cabinet and the six Shangshu come in to speak.

Everybody didn't take it seriously. Although it is rare for the emperor not to go to court because of temporary discomfort, there are always once or twice a month, especially the current Emperor Zhengde, who has been extremely disgusted with the court hearing since he was young, and such bad behavior. is quite a criminal record.

As a result, the nine important ministers entered the Forbidden City, and when they arrived at the Qianqing Palace, they knew what was going on. …,

Then, the news of the emperor's vomiting of blood and fainting spread throughout the city of Beijing in less than half a day!

It's not that they leaked secrets, in fact, the nine important ministers have been dark from early in the morning until now, except for the thatched house, they haven't even been out of the courtroom, so how can they talk about ventilating the news?

It's not that the big eunuchs in the palace are ineffective, in fact, at the first time when Zhengde fainted, Liu Jixiang issued a gag order, and even took care of all the eunuchs and palace daughters of the Qianqing Palace, and then found someone to report several powerful eunuchs and empress dowagers and other nobles in the palace.

But the Forbidden City is a leaky territory on all sides, and it doesn't take long for the news to be kept, and I don't know who did it, so I can't trace it if I want to!

Moreover, the most experienced imperial doctors in Zhaotai Hospital came to diagnose and treat, but they could not hide it.

If it's a small problem, do you need to make such a big move?

As soon as the news of Zhengde's vomiting blood and fainting and fainting and it was very likely to be very sick or even unexpected, the entire capital was suddenly boiling, and all forces were making preparations, extremely nervous, and each had different thoughts.

And there is no doubt that these ministers in the court are all leaders of some extremely large forces, and at least they are the soul of them. Their actions are even more related, but at this moment, these nine people all have the same thought in their hearts!

The emperor must be safe and sound!

Whether they like Zhengde in their hearts, dislike Zhengde, or even hate it, they wish that this emperor would die early and be reborn, and they all think like this in their hearts.

Without him, there are only two words - the national capital!

The so-called national capital, if the emperor is alive, then it is the emperor, and if the emperor is gone, it is the prince.

This is the foundation of a country and a dynasty!

The so-called national capital.

How important is the country? Just look at the scenes of the Ming Dynasty in the Orthodox Dynasty and the Jingtai Dynasty.

Yingzong was captured by Wara during the Tumubao Rebellion, and Warat demanded a huge ransom and put forward extremely harsh conditions, because in their impression, the emperor of the Han people is more important than everything, so for the emperor, these Han people will definitely be willing to give everything. But the Ming Dynasty is tough, and these civil officials are also tough enough, and they directly set up another emperor! The Ming Dynasty was not in turmoil at that time, because although the Ming Dynasty did not have a prince at that time, there was a prison state, and the emperor's younger brother was there, and he was the only de jure heir to the throne, so the ministers easily made a choice.

And after Yingzong was picked up, he was imprisoned in Nangong, but he was able to restore with the help of a eunuch and dozens of people and was recognized by the ministers and even the government and the opposition, just because Emperor Jingtai had no son, and he Yingzong Zhu Qizhen had several alive!

This is the national capital!

Just like a puppet in the Wanli period who could break into the Forbidden City with a jujube stick and almost beat the prince to death, there are many things in the Ming Dynasty that are ridiculous.

But what about today's national capital?

There are a lot of sons today, dozens of them, but that is, there is no prince!

They are all scholars, they are all Confucian students, they are all disciples of Confucianism, as a Confucian student, they all have a very strong orthodoxy in their hearts, that is, loyalty!

Loyal! Loyalty to the Ming Dynasty. The object of their loyalty is not the emperor, but the behemoth of the Ming Dynasty. They are loyal to the emperor only because he is the emperor of this vast empire! That's all! Change a person in place, sit in this position. As long as his surname is Zhu, he is a man, he is close enough to the main line of the royal family, legally speaking, and he is not an idiot, and he meets the above conditions, then these civil officials will still be loyal to him! …,

So when Emperor Jingtai was seriously ill. Yingzong Zhu Qizhen was surrounded by Shi Heng, Cao Jixiang and others to restore from the South Palace, and the courtiers went to the court without knowing anything, but they found that when the person sitting on the dragon seat was already a changed person, he would still bow down to him loyally and show his respect.

The military department is still the secretary of Yu Qian, and Yu Shaobao is no exception!

Because all of them understand one thing. Their glory, their power, even their safety, their families, all of them. The reason why it can exist is that it is maintained on one point - the Zhu Ming royal family!

In essence, these civil officials are like vines, attached to the big tree of the emperor, with the help of which they can get everything, but they are constantly fighting against the imperial family.

Therefore, the royal family must not be chaotic, and there must be no mistakes!

In today's situation, so many sons are legitimate, but none of them have a name, even more difficult and subtle than the emperor's son!

These scholars, who have read poetry and books and are accustomed to seeing the bloody struggles of the royal family in history, can even imagine that if this happens, then what a tragic struggle will occur between these princes! They will form gangs and factions, they will attack each other, and even if the armies of the Imperial Horse Guard, the Beijing Army, and the Twenty-six Guards are all involved, then it will be another bloody storm, and it is not impossible for the soldiers to meet each other!

Even the worst and most miserable words, like the rebellion of the eight kings of the Western Jin Dynasty?

The Great Jin Dynasty, which had just unified the Three Kingdoms and ended the pattern of three parts of the world, was destroyed under the blade of those eight princes in just a few decades! Since then, the land of China has been divided for a hundred years, and the Han people in the Central Plains have been reduced to fish and meat under the knife of foreign races for hundreds of years, in the name of begging!

It is the Great Sui and Tang Dynasty, and that is also the queen of the Hu people!

Thinking of this, even Yang Shen, the first assistant who had held the power of the military for decades, couldn't help but shudder.

Therefore, the emperor must live, even if he can only live for a cup of tea, as long as he can still open his mouth, leave a testament, and say a name!

Then you can go to death!

As long as an heir can be appointed, then these civil officials will have hope, hope, and support, and the Ming Dynasty will be able to avoid a great disaster!

Suddenly, a thunderclap sounded outside the window, and several adults who were caught off guard trembled, and with another lightning, at this time, mixed with chaotic rain and thunder, but there were also footsteps that sounded intensively.

A eunuch walked into the court with three or four little eunuchs, and everyone looked over, and by the light, they saw that this eunuch was the eunuch Liu Jixiang, the eunuch of the imperial horse eunuch, Liu Jixiang had a straight face, and said solemnly: "The Holy Lord's oracle!"

When the nine important ministers heard this, Huo Di stood up in unison, and asked in a mess, "Gonggong Liu, how is the saint?" ”

"Has the Holy One woken up?"

If an ordinary foreign courtier asked like this, Liu Jixiang directly threw a stinky face and ignored you, but these people were not something he could offend, so he had to say with a bitter face: "A few adults, let's take the holy decree first!" ”

Only then did everyone suddenly, under the leadership of Yang Shen, they all bowed to the ground and said respectfully: "Wait for the order!" ”

Liu Jixiang coughed lightly and said, "The Holy Lord's oracle, I am unharmed, and Zhu Aiqing does not need to be worried." Everyone is the pillar of the country, and they have been waiting for a day, so let's go home and rest! Tomorrow morning, the court stopped, and the three pavilion elders entered the palace to speak. By the way, after waiting for so long, I must be hungry, I ordered the imperial study to make a honey roast duck, and bring one back alone! Chin this. ”

When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but let go of most of their hearts, this will, with a very strong style of Emperor Zhengde, was very casual, and it was very fun to make fun of these important ministers - because Emperor Zhengde knew very well that several of his courtiers were well-educated. …,

After listening to the last sentence, they were all a little ridiculous, but they were all relieved. At least I know that the emperor has woken up, and this will is absolutely impossible for others to imitate.

Wake up, then rest assured!

The ministers let out a long sigh. And they all took the will, and got up.

Liu Jixiang passed the will, nodded to everyone, and then turned around to leave. But he didn't expect an old and cold voice to come from behind him: "Father-in-law Liu, slow down!" ”

When Liu Jixiang heard this voice, he quickly turned around and said with a smile: "Lord Yang, what's wrong?" ”

It was Yang Shen who spoke, as the first assistant of the cabinet, who actually ruled this huge empire for more than ten years, and was one of the top four in the world in terms of power in the inner and outer courts! is a character like Jiang Bin and Ma Yongcheng. How dare Liu Jixiang offend?

Yang Shen said slowly: "I'm tired of Gonggong Liu to tell the saint, the minister wants to see the driver!" ”

"See the driver?" Liu Jixiang was stunned for a moment, and he was a little embarrassed: "Lord Yang, the saint has already woken up, and he has drunk a bowl of ginseng soup, and he is resting at this time, I am afraid that he will not be disturbed." Otherwise, you'll talk about it tomorrow? ”

He knew that if he went back to confess at this time, he would definitely provoke the saint to be extremely displeased, and he would have to pour his anger on himself. Why bother?

"No, the old minister is in a hurry, he must see him now! There must be no delay! I also ask Gonggong Liu to pass it on on his behalf, old minister, I am grateful. "These words are obviously polite, but in fact they are very cold and hard, which means that you will pass it on to me today no matter what! The threat of this is coming.

Yang Shen has always been gentle, but it is very rare to speak like this.

The other important ministers were a little unclear, but Dai Zhangpu was moved in his heart, and then echoed: "Father-in-law Liu, if the ministers also have a report, please pass it on!" ”

The others also understood, and said in unison: "Father-in-law Liu, please pass it on!" ”

Which of these important ministers is not more powerful than himself? Being forced by them like this, Liu Jixiang's fat face was already white, he gritted his teeth, and scolded secretly in his heart, but he could only helplessly say: "Okay, good, everyone, let's go, let's go, can it be done?" ”

After saying that, he flicked his sleeves and walked out of the court room with a gloomy face.

Qianqing Palace, compared with just now, the atmosphere at this time has become much more relaxed, everything is because the emperor has woken up.

And it looks pretty good.

Several richly dressed concubines walked out of it, they were all in their thirties, it was the time when the young woman's charm was the most attractive, but at this moment, their expressions were all a little resentful, even resentful. Even if you have a smile on your face, if you look closely, you can find the dissatisfaction between your eyebrows.

Every concubine is surrounded by a large number of old mothers and little eunuchs, and without exception, every concubine has an old mother holding a child around her.

These concubines left the Qianqing Palace, or got on the soft sedan chair, or got on the step, or walked, and they all left one after another.

The reason for their resentment is simple.

After the emperor fell into a coma, these concubines naturally came over to wait for a visit, but the old queen mother issued an edict, no children, all go back to wait, leaving only some young concubines, they waited here for a day, I thought that I could show my face in front of the emperor, and I would please her, but I didn't expect that after waiting for a day, after the emperor woke up, the first thing was to recruit Liu Guifei in, and the others were all back to their respective homes!

!

Many concubines are secretly scolding in their hearts, what's so good about that fox? is so old, the emperor is not disgusted when he sees it.

In the East Warm Pavilion, Zhengde leaned on the pillow, listening to the sound of heavy rain in his ears. …,

His complexion was still a little sallow, but it was much better than when he was in a coma, a little bloody, and the occipital pain that had been annoying him seemed to be a little more interesting, and it didn't hurt so much now.

Emperor Zhengde felt that he was indeed much more comfortable, because his illness was a stubborn disease, not an urgent illness. In fact, the imperial doctors in the palace, there is no need to talk about their medical skills, but their treatment effect is often not good - not that they are not dedicated, but because they dare not use fierce medicine!

How noble is the Son of Heaven? How careful should you be in prescribing your medications? What a sin is it if something goes wrong?

Therefore, whenever these imperial doctors encounter the emperor's illness, they all prescribe some very mild prescriptions, focusing on recuperation, and the drugs in them, even if they are picked, they can't find any faults. But the problem is that if such a recipe is so mild, it must not work very well, but it doesn't matter! If the emperor is dead, he will die! Even if the emperor has any problems, it's none of their business, they can push 625 and spread their hands: "Weichen is incompetent!" ”

My ability is limited, I can't see this disease, I can only prescribe such a prescription, the emperor can't get better, what can I do?

And if you use strong medicine, it is indeed effective, but what if something goes wrong?

Whose responsibility is it?

Therefore, if the emperor is sick and uses the imperial doctor to treat him, it is really better to put the emperor on makeup, quietly go to the people to find a good doctor, and let him treat him without telling him the truth.

Fortunately, Zhengde is a stubborn disease, for so many years, the doctors have already accumulated a lot of experience, and they have been drinking medicine, kneading and acupuncture, tossing for a long time, and finally got it.

The eunuch who held the seal of the celebrant eunuch, Ma Yongcheng, the first person of the minister, Lin Xiongqi, the eunuch of the ceremonial eunuch Bingbi, the eunuch Lu of the Admiral Dongchang and the three eunuchs who were powerful outside and feared by everyone knelt in front of the bed, their foreheads were close to the ground, and they didn't dare to come out.

A palace beauty sat on the edge of the bed, holding Zhengde's hand, the two looked at each other from time to time and smiled, and did not speak, but they had a rare warmth in the emperor's family.

This palace beauty is not too young, she looks at least forty years old, and there are already a few crow's feet at the corners of her eyes that can't be hidden, showing her true age, but the noble and elegant charm on her body can't be hidden no matter what.

She is not extremely beautiful, but she gives people a very comfortable feeling, at a glance, it seems to feel a gentle force, not impatient, like a spring breeze.

She is wearing a goose-yellow sprinkler, with two jade hairpins on her head, one is topaz, and the other is carved from the extremely superior imperial green jadeite, the lines are generous and simple, but the knife work is extremely chic, so that people can see Xiao Xiao at a glance, it seems to see Xiao Xiao falling wood, waterfall flowing, obviously is an extraordinary product.

Except for these two jade hairpins, there are no other ornaments on the body, and compared with other concubines, it can be said that it is quite shabby.

At this time, Liu Jixiang walked in lightly, knelt on the ground, and said, "Emperor, the slave and maid have gone to deliver the decree, but it's just ......."

"Just what?" Zhengde said lightly.

"Scholar Yang Shen Yang said that I must see you. The other important ministers also said the same, only saying that there was an urgent performance and they wanted to meet face to face. Liu Jixiang said cautiously.

He thought that the emperor was going to be displeased again, but he didn't expect that Zhengde just frowned slightly, let out a long breath, thought for a moment, waved his hand and said, "Xuan!" ”

Liu Jixiang hurriedly responded: "It's the emperor, the slave is going!" ”

After that, it was a bone that turned upside down.

After a while, Yang Shen and other important ministers walked into the Dongnuan Pavilion under the leadership of Liu Jixiang, Yang Shen still had some traces of water on his body, but he didn't care about it, and he didn't wait for the emperor to greet him, he knelt down on the gold brick with a bang, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, minister, please establish the country!" (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to (.) to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support is my biggest motivation. )