"The emperor is really unreasonable!" Xia Yan slapped the table, obviously angry, "How can you give such a holy edict!" ”

It turned out that Zhu Houxi was preparing to tour Chengtian and inspect the palace, but on the occasion of the southern tour, he issued a holy edict, saying that during the southern tour, the prince was ordered to supervise the country. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoBut now the crown prince is only four years old, how can he supervise the country? However, the ministers knew that during the southern tour, the prince's imprisonment was only a nominal matter, so they did not oppose it and accepted it.

But just two days ago, the emperor suddenly changed his mind and issued a new edict, telling the courtiers: "I want to order the prince to be in charge of the country for one or two years, so that I can take care of the palace and strengthen my body, and then carry out the pro-government." ”

As soon as this holy oracle was issued, the courtiers were naturally stunned and didn't know what to do, but they all strongly opposed it in their hearts. can glimpse Zhu Houxi's solemn expression in the court, as if he was not in a good mood, so no one dared to touch this moldy head in person. However, after leaving the court, many ministers were opposed, among which the Tai servant Qing Yang was the most fierce, and unceremoniously refuted Zhu Houyu's superstitious Fangshi and his enthusiasm for alchemy and other practices, and compared Zhu Houyu with the ancient sage emperor, insinuating and criticizing Zhu Houxi's various practices, and as a result, Zhu Houyu was so angry that Zhu Houyi directly threw him into the Jinyi Wei Prison, tortured for a day, and was already dying.

"Lord Xia, you don't have to worry too much about this matter, this may just be the emperor's momentary thought, and you can't do it..."Peng Yue was really not too worried about this matter, because he knew that Zhu Houxi had such a farce in history, but in the end he was suppressed back by the power of the ministers. However, when he experiences this now, he is indeed a little worried, because Peng Yue often wonders if Zhu Houxi will suddenly change his mind and really let the four-year-old child be imprisoned.

"Don't worry too much, if I don't care about this, then what else should I care about?" When Xia Yan said this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"In fact, even if the emperor really lets the prince supervise the country, in fact, the emperor can't really let go of the affairs of the court, and everything in the court, the emperor will still hold it tightly in his hands, does Lord Xia believe this?" Peng Yue asked, looking at the table.

"Hmm... This... I don't doubt it..."Xia Yan's voice also lowered, "But let a... Let the crown prince supervise the country, I always feel inappropriate, after all... After all, the prince is too young..."Xia Yan thought about it, and the word "a four-year-old little doll" was still not spoken in the end.

However, after Peng Yue said this, Xia Yan also thought about this matter carefully, and felt that Zhu Houxi was not a person who could let go of power, even if the crown prince was in charge of the country, he would hold all the power in his hands, otherwise he would not be Zhu Houxi.

"Then what do you say the emperor is doing this for?" Because the two of them have tacitly understood at this time, there is no need to say it so clearly, and it seems to others that they are playing a dumb riddle.

"I guess... It should be that the emperor is too obsessed with cultivation..."Peng Yue said with a wry smile, "The last trip to Chengtian, it is estimated that the emperor was frightened, although he was rescued by Lord Lu Binglu in time, but after all, he had palpitations, I think the emperor may want to be quiet for a while, concentrate on cultivation by himself, take care of his body, and then... Let's worry about state affairs again..."Peng Yue said this, his confidence was a little insufficient.

"Is that really the case?" Xia Yan asked and answered himself, but before he finished speaking, he thought about it first, "Did you say that it was possible that the emperor wanted to take the opportunity to test the ministers and see... If he wasn't there, what would the ministers behave like? ”

Although Xia Yan's words were unclear, Peng Yue also roughly understood. Xia Yan's meaning was nothing more than to ask Zhu Houxi if he wanted to use the prince's imprisonment as an excuse to spy on whether the minister would have a tendency to abuse power. And if the emperor really thinks like this, then the first person to point to must be Xia Yan, so Xia Yan vaguely has this kind of worry.

"Do you think the emperor has such a need?" Peng Yue glanced at it and lowered his head. It seems that Xia Yan is really cautious now, and even such a marginal thing is starting to worry.

"Uh... Hehe... It's also right..."Xia Yan was obviously a little embarrassed, "The emperor has the means, and there is no need to take this way at all..."

"Could it be that it is really like the rumors, the emperor did this because of the words of some Taoist priests?" Xia Yan glanced left and right, as if there was no one, so he asked Peng Yue in a low voice.

"I'm afraid that's the case..."Peng Yue also deliberately lowered his voice, "The rumors I heard are also like this, and I think that if it weren't for some Taoist priests, the emperor would probably have been difficult to come up with this method on his own, and he wouldn't have been so firm." Now only cultivation can make the emperor so obsessed, as for other reasons... We really don't have to think too deeply..."

"Really?" Xia Yan frowned, looking incredulous, "Ridiculous! It's ridiculous! These Taoist priests, even if they don't do anything serious all day long, are now making such a bad move, it's really hateful! You said... What exactly do you say they're for? ”

"Lord Xia, be quiet, don't let others listen..."Peng Yue pulled Xia Yan's shirt, "It's not a day or two, why bother... Alas... The minister wants to compete for favor, and the Taoist priests naturally want to compete for favor, if the emperor can really put down the affairs of the court and concentrate on cultivating with them, then those Taoist priests..."

"Damn, these Taoist priests..."Xia Yan's gaze seemed to be able to shoot fire at this time, "We must find a way not to let these Taoist priests..."

"Lord Xia... Don't be impulsive..."Peng Yue frowned, "You also know that this Taoist priest now... Try your best to keep them from participating in state affairs, even if you solve these Taoist priests, there will be a steady stream of Taoist priests in the future, so... Bear with it this time..."

"But this time it's different, this matter is too much..." Xia Yan flicked his sleeves, looking indignant, "Forget it, don't talk about it..."

"Lord Xia, then I'll tell you something to be happy about..."Peng Yue knocked on the table, with a smile in his eyes, "A few days ago, Tao Zhongwen recommended to the emperor a priest named Duan Chaoyong, saying that he could turn utensils into gold and silver, and dedicated the silver cup he turned into to the emperor, the emperor called it a heavenly gift, and immediately used the Purple Mansion to declare loyalty to the Duan Dynasty, and ordered Duan Chao to speed up the conversion of artifacts into gold and silver, and contribute to the imperial court..."

"I know what you said..."Xia Yan glanced at Peng Yue, "Can this be considered a good thing, just a Taoist priest, just because he offered a silver cup, he received such a reward, how many ministers in the court and the government have done their best, and they haven't... Just thinking about it makes me angry! ”

"Lord Xia, we have to look at this matter later..."Peng Yue was quite calm, even if Xia Yan was like this, Peng Yue was not angry on the side, "Lord Xia, do you really believe that there is such a spell in the world as turning ordinary artifacts into gold and silver?" ”

"It's... I don't really believe it, but Tao Zhongwen..."Xia Yan hesitated, indeed, thinking of the ghosts and gods that Tao Zhongwen did, he couldn't figure out whether there was such a thing in the world, "Anyway, I don't believe it..."

"That's right, I can assure you that there is absolutely no such spell in the world as turning ordinary artifacts into gold and silver, that Duan Chaoyong is definitely a liar, and this whole thing is definitely a scam!" Although Peng Yue smiled, he said it very firmly.

"Zirui, can you really guarantee it?" Xia Yan stared at Peng Yue tightly, "Then why don't you make it clear to the Holy Lord, expose this scam, and drive that liar out of the court!" ”

"This matter is not in a hurry, since this is a scam, there will always be a day when the conspiracy will be revealed..."Peng Yue was a little calm and relaxed when he spoke at this time, "The reason why I say this matter is a happy event is because in addition to Tao Zhongwen, there is another person who recommended Duan Chaoyong to the emperor..."

"Who?"

"Guo Xun..."Peng Yue put down the teacup in his hand with a smile, "I think Guo Xun was also deceived by that Duan Dynasty, but Guo Xun is really stupid enough to believe in such nonsense as turning ordinary artifacts into gold and silver..."

"Guo Xun was actually involved in this matter?" Xia Yan looked a little disbelieving, "If this period of court is really a liar, then Guo Xun can... Ha ha... I heard that the court used it for that period, but I received a lot of utensils in the palace..."

"So I said that this is a happy event, as long as Duan Chao's conspiracy is exposed, he Guo Xun will definitely be unlucky, because for this matter, Guo Xun is fully supportive, it was Guo Xun who first strongly assured the emperor, saying that Duan Chao's use is credible, and the place where Duan Dynasty uses alchemy and silver is located in Guo Xun's mansion..."Peng Yue said this, his words were full of mockery, "If Guo Xun deserves it, the family power is enough for him to be prosperous and rich, but he still has more trust because he helped Zhang Xuan when he discussed the ceremony. Now that he is in charge of the forbidden army, he can be said to be powerful, but he still doesn't give up, and he still wants to climb up, it's really not enough to swallow elephants, and if he is greedy, it's only a matter of time before he gets unlucky..."

"Then when will the emperor find out about this?" Although Xia Yan spoke calmly, Peng Yue could still hear the anxiety in it.

"Don't worry, since this is a conspiracy, it will be revealed one day..."Peng Yue said slowly, "The longer this matter drags on, the greater the emperor's hopes, and the greater his disappointment will be, and the more dissatisfaction he will accumulate... You get the idea? ”

"Okay, then wait slowly, haha... I have patience..."Xia Yan said with a smile, "I just watched the day when Guo Xun was unlucky..."

"But now I'm not worried about the emperor's cultivation, because this matter... We can't change it at all..."Peng Yue's tone suddenly had some lamentation, "What I'm worried about is that the emperor has extinguished his enthusiasm for political reform, if the emperor only pays attention to grasping the power of the court and loses his enthusiasm for political affairs, this is probably the worst outcome." In this way, it is not only a matter of the emperor's loss of enthusiasm, but if the minister wants to do something, I am afraid it will also be a lot of constraints..."

When Peng Yue said this, he suddenly felt a little sad, because he had clearly felt Zhu Houxi's slackness in political affairs, and his behavior of only grasping power and ignoring political affairs might as well really take a back seat and don't care about anything. Peng Yue is now more and more worried about the reform of the DPRK and China, he has not done much, if he gives up halfway because of Zhu Houxi, Peng Yue really dare not imagine.

"Lord Xia, it's not been a day or two that the Holy Lord has been obsessed with cultivation, and we can't persuade this matter. However, the emperor's desire for reform has also declined with the cultivation of the Tao, and we have to pay attention to this matter. Peng Yue said this, and let out a long sigh of relief, "Lord Xia, I want to put this matter of private trade on the agenda as soon as possible, and I hope you can fully support... Taking advantage of the fact that the emperor is still a little enthusiastic about reform, I want to set the general trend of things first, and the specific work... I can only do it later, so that I don't have to worry about accidents in the future..."

In fact, Peng Yue is now afraid that Zhu Houxi will ignore political affairs, and this trend is indeed becoming more and more obvious. If the general trend can be set at this time, then without Zhu Houxi, his own reform will not stagnate. Although Peng Yue knew that he was very anxious and risky to do so now, he had no other way. Thinking about the later Wanli Emperor, who did not go to court for more than 30 years, and did not care about most of the affairs of the court, didn't the country still run very well? But if you think about it carefully, there are really many wonderful emperors of the Ming Dynasty...

"Well, I'll try my best to help you in this matter, but I don't guarantee that it will succeed, you know..." Xia Yan said this, his tone was also a little helpless.

"As long as Lord Xia is willing to do his best to help me, then I am grateful, and I thank Lord Xia in advance..."Peng Yue said, bowing respectfully to Xia Yan.

Notes: 1. Jiajing respects Taoism, worships ghosts and gods, and enjoys it all his life, which is closely related to the environment in which he grew up. Zhu Houxi's fiefdom was in Anlu (located in present-day Hubei Province), and the land of Jingchu was originally the source of Taoism. In addition, Jiajing's biological father and mother also respect Taoism, and Jiajing is a great filial son (the Great Rites Discussion is enough to explain), and the influence of hearing and seeing on Jiajing is self-evident. And Jiajing has a very strong personality, and most of the things he believes are difficult to change, he not only believes in the Tao himself, but after becoming the emperor, he also requires all his ministers to respect the Tao, and those who respect the Tao are promoted to become rich, and those who dare to speak and advise will be cut off from their posts for the people, imprisoned, and killed on the spot. So it's really impossible to change Jiajing's monastic tendency, and I didn't give the protagonist such a golden finger.

2. Jiajing's early ruling was still very good, and he was also quite enthusiastic about political reform and other things, which was called "the rule of Zhongxing" in later generations, but later it became more and more unlikely.