For several days, the sky in the capital was gloomy.

Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.

Green smoke rose from the four dragon-patterned copper stoves, causing a faint smell of sandalwood to fill the room.

Palace maids and eunuchs come and go, imperial doctors and ministers often come and go, and it seems to be very lively here, but everyone has a faint sadness on their faces.

With the sound of vomiting, the palace maid knelt in front of the bed with a copper basin, the eunuch Wei Xing patted the dragon's back, and then the imperial doctor Liu Wentai took the copper basin and studied the vomit again.

After Zhu Jianshen, who was wearing yellow obscene clothes, vomited all the decoction he drank in his stomach, he lay on the head of the bed weakly, but he knew that he was afraid that time was running out.

Although he was made crown prince at the age of three, his father had become a prisoner of Warat and was deposed the following year.

In the days that followed, his father and uncle fought for the throne, and he was tormented by being in the center of the maelstrom, and eventually suffered from a stutter.

Since succeeding to the throne, the imperial father has left behind a devastated dynasty.

Due to the continuous natural disasters, civil strife such as the Yao Datengxia Uprising in Liangguang, the Miao Uprising in Sichuan and Hunan, and the Displaced People Uprising in Jingxiang Region emerged one after another, while the Mongol Tatars stationed in the Hetao area and constantly intruded on the nine borders, even the weak Jianzhou Jurchens began to breed trouble.

In the face of the situation of internal and external troubles in the Ming Dynasty, he also conscientiously took the line of strengthening the army, pacified the Quartet, and worked hard to create a peaceful and prosperous era belonging to China.

It's just that the civil official group is just Ye Gong Haolong, or what they want is actually just a prosperous era for scholars, and they must be more interested in their own interests.

Although the establishment of his own Xichang effectively cracked down on the corruption of officials, at the same time, it intensified the contradictions between himself and the civilian clique, and since then he has been constrained by the civilian clique everywhere, and he has also created the early dynasty model of "retreating from the court".

I have worked hard for the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty, and I have also been decadent because I feel powerless against the civil official group, and twenty-three years have flashed in front of me like a flash, everything is like a big dream.

Although he failed to create a prosperous era for the Ming Dynasty, he resisted the foreign enemies of Mongolia and stood up the backbone of China, and almost wiped out the Jianzhou Jurchens, which can be regarded as worthy of the people of the world.

That's it, so be it!

Zhu Jianshen felt extremely uncomfortable in his body, he was still a mortal after all, and he lost the love of his life and became a lonely person, maybe death can be regarded as a relief.

If there is anything that can't be parted with, it is probably the world of his own Zhu family, and the prince is actually not the ideal heir in his mind.

"Emperor, if you really want to go like this, how about letting your mother and relatives do it?" When Empress Dowager Zhou heard the news, she came to the bed and said sadly to Zhu Jian on the bed.

Empress Dowager Zhou is the concubine of Zhu Qizhen of Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, a person from Changping Prefecture in Shuntianfu in the north, after Zhu Jianshen ascended the throne, her mother relied on her son to honor the original Queen Qian.

Although she is now about to be honored as the Empress Dowager, she is only 57 years old this year. Because it is well maintained, it looks no more than fifty years old.

She has the physique of a northerner, with a wide forehead, slender eyebrows, fair skin, and a noble and somewhat strong woman's breath on her body.

Although Zhu Jianshen knew that the royal family affection was weak, he couldn't bear to see his biological mother so sad, so he comforted him: "Queen Mother, I have arranged everything in the palace, even if I go, your life is worry-free, there is no need to be so sad!" ”

"Emperor, how can you go before your mother? If you really go, the prince is young, how should this Ming world be? Empress Dowager Zhou's two lines of tears hung on her cheeks, but she grabbed Zhu Jianshen's hand tightly and complained.

A touch of bitterness flashed on Zhu Jianshen's face, and the heir in his heart was not the indecisive prince, but the eldest King Xing was just over ten years old, and he was not as good as the eighteen-year-old prince Zhu Youji.

As for the "prince is young" mentioned by the queen mother, although Zhu Youzhu is indeed still like a child now, these words undoubtedly reveal a different kind of thought.

Zhu Jianshen knew that there were not many people who could trust him now, so in order to make his mother feel more at ease, he made a decision and said: "Qian Yi, come in!" ”

"The slave is here!" Qian Yi came in from outside and knelt down respectfully.

Zhu Jianshen sighed lightly, and then explained to Qian Yi: "If I go this time, you will obey the Queen Mother's dispatch in the future, and respect her as I am!" ”

Seeing this, Liang Fang, the eunuch who was guarding the Imperial Horse Supervisor's palm seal, knew that His Majesty was explaining what was going on.

For any dynasty, the control of the Beijing army is undoubtedly crucial, and the control of the Beijing army can not only control the situation of the dynasty, but also establish itself as the emperor.

The most important strength of the Ming Jing Army is the Fifth Army Battalion, the Shenji Battalion and the Three Thousand Battalions, commonly known as the "Three Battalions". It is worth mentioning that although the establishment of the "three battalions" is still retained in this dynasty, the "three battalions" have long existed in name only.

In the first year of Jingtai, Yu Qian, the secretary of the Ministry of War, reformed the establishment of the Beijing battalion, selected 100,000 elite battalions from the "three major battalions", and set up ten regiments and battalions, each battalion with a chief military officer.

Since then, the "three major battalions" that have been drained of all their young and strong have been reduced to empty shells, that is, the "hometown" in the mouth of the current Beijing army.

Soon after Zhu Jianshen ascended the throne, he first dismissed the "Ten Regiment Battalions" and then set up the "Twelve Regiment Battalions". Due to the gradual deterioration of relations with the civilian clique, he no longer handed over the 12th regiment battalion to the military department Shangshu or the Imperial Governor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, but to the eunuchs of the Inner Palace.

The first commander and eunuch of the 12th regiment battalion was Wang Zhi, and after Wang Zhi was attacked by the civil official group and demoted to Nanjing, he was replaced by Qian Yi, the eunuch of the ceremonial supervisor Bingbi.

Zhu Jianshen now asked Qian Yi to obey the instructions of the Empress Dowager Zhou in the future, which is actually equivalent to transferring the military power of the Beijing camp to the Empress Dowager Zhou, and the Empress Dowager Zhou will ensure the smooth handover of the new and old dynasties.

Empress Dowager Zhou couldn't help but secretly rejoice in her heart, although this was the result she wanted this time, she still maintained a very sad expression on her face.

"Yes!" Qian Yi glanced up at the Empress Dowager Zhou, and said immediately.

I thought that His Majesty would let him obey the orders of the prince, and he didn't want to ask himself to obey the Empress Dowager Zhou, who brought the prince up, but this should not be something he considered.

In the evening, a sedan chair returned from the direction of the Forbidden City, and after crossing the long West Chang'an Avenue, it turned around and came to the front of Huaishu Hutong.

Liu Ji, who was wearing a first-class official uniform, sat in the sedan chair with his eyes closed, although he was now over sixty years old, his skin was well maintained, he had a beautiful long beard, and the whole person looked energetic.

Since the eighteenth year of Chenghua, Liu Jue was squeezed away by him and Wan An, and only he and Wan An were left in the cabinet, and he resolutely became the deputy assistant of the cabinet in the high-ranking cabinet.

Unlike many young and unambitious officials, he was only twenty-one years old when he was a second-class jinshi in high school, first entered the Hanlin Academy as a Shujishi, and then edited by the Hanlin Academy, and entered the prince's mansion as a Japanese lecturer in the fourth year of Tianshun.

It is precisely by virtue of this teacher-student relationship that he is like a fish in water in Emperor Chenghua, and in the fourteenth year of Chenghua, he became the prince Shaobao and a scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion.

In nine years, he has gone from being an ignorant prime minister who entered the cabinet to now becoming the best politician in the entire Ming Dynasty.

It's just that just now the imperial doctor has revealed that His Majesty will not live for three days, which is both an opportunity and a challenge, and this court like a pool of stagnant water will usher in a storm.

"Welcome home!"

The sedan chair fell gently in the front yard, and when the housekeeper lifted the sedan curtain, the sound of the whole family greeting came from outside.

Liu Ji is not a good woman, but now she is only a wife and two concubines, giving birth to four sons and five daughters, and she bows her head gently to the wife and children who will welcome her return here every day.

The main room Ji stepped forward and reported respectfully: "Master, a distinguished guest has just arrived at home, and the concubine has been arranged to wait for you in the backyard!" ”

"Good!" Liu Ji was secretly overjoyed and immediately walked towards the backyard.

Since it was already evening, the lotus pond in the backyard was shrouded in a faint twilight, but the lotus flowers in full bloom seemed more holy.

In that exquisite lake pavilion, a tall man in his fifties was drinking tea at a stone table, accompanied by Liu Ji's son, Liu Wei.

Liu Ji saw the tall man from afar, and immediately said like a spring breeze: "Commander Zhu's visit to the cold house is really brilliant!" ”

"I've seen Liu Ge Lao!" When Zhu Ji saw Liu Ji coming over, he also stood up and bowed respectfully.

Zhu Ji is the commander of the Jinyi Guard, and his father is an ordinary Jinyi Guard, but he was fortunate enough to marry the daughter of Yu Qian, the former head of the Military Department, Wu Ning, who was the head of the Military Department.

Although he was degraded because his father-in-law Yu Qian was killed, Emperor Chenghua was pardoned and reinstated, and then climbed step by step to the position of the commander of Jinyiwei.

Liu Ji handed his son Liu Wei a look, and Liu Wei walked towards his own treasure house with understanding.

The housekeeper brought the tea cup, and Liu Ji raised his hand to Liu Ji who was standing and said, "Commander Zhu, you and I are fellow villagers, you don't need to be so restrained, please take a seat!" ”

"Elder Liu Ge, please sit down first!" Zhu Ji did not sit down, but sorted out the main and secondary tunnels.

Liu Ji was very satisfied with Zhu Ji's posture, and sat down and said straight to the point: "Commander Zhu, I can't hide it, I invited you to come to the cold house today because I want you to investigate someone for me!" ”

"Who?" Zhu Ji didn't expect the other party to be so straightforward, but he still asked seriously.

Liu Ji dipped his finger in a little tea, and then wrote a name on the table.

With Zhu Jianshen critically ill, and the current crown prince Zhu Youzhi is a very easy person to master, this court is already brewing a big storm.