Reincarnation of the powerful minister

The shadow of the sundial pointer slowly shifts from noon to eve.

On the long and narrow palace road leading from Chengtian Gate to Meridian Gate, hurried and chaotic footsteps sounded.

Looking down from mid-air, countless dark-colored skirts are connected vertically and horizontally, as if the night tide is surging; the round hat is like a piece of reef in the tide; flying fish.

This night tide passed through the Meridian Gate, crossed the five golden water bridges, and poured into Fengtianmen Square, completely surrounding the officials who were still waiting for the reply of the holy order.

Some officials thought it was the Jin Yiwei who was on duty in the square that day and came to persuade him to leave again, and shouted loudly: "The emperor asked me to wait here, you Jin Yiwei don't guard the gate well, why are you messing around? Go away!"

There were four to five hundred guards in brocade clothes surrounding them, each of them was sturdy and sharp-eyed.Hearing the words, he retreated, but he retreated to both sides, leaving a long passage in the middle.

Jiao Yang watched the leader of Jinyiwei who was wearing a flying fish suit walking step by step from this passage, he felt that the smell of blood seemed to be coming to his nostrils before he approached, so he couldn't help but frowned: "Beizhen Fusi, Shen Qi."

"It's the official." Shen Qi walked up to him and called "the official", but there was no sign of respect in her expression, she didn't even make a boxing ceremony, "Old Jiao Ge, Old Wang Ge, and all your lords Ladies and gentlemen, you have worked hard. I will take all the adults to rest in the private room."

Jiao Yang said: "Private room? What private room? Next to this is the cabinet. If you want to rest, we will go there by ourselves. Don't worry about it."

Wang Qianhe said vigilantly: "Shen Qi, what do you mean?"

Shen Qi looked at the two elders, with a sneering smile on the corner of her mouth: "Of course it's the private room of Fusi Prison in Beizhen. Don't worry, my lords, I guarantee that there will be one room per person, and it will never be crowded."

He waved his hand and ordered: "Take them all, and don't get away with one!"

The brocade guards rushed forward like wolves and pinned down all the officials present, even the two elders who were more than [-] people.

Jiao Yang was extremely frightened and angry, and shouted: "Shen Qi, you are crazy! How dare you do anything to me?"

Wang Qianhe also turned pale with shock: "Minister of the cabinet, how can you allow the guards to offend you? Shen Qi, you are so brave, you are not afraid of being impeached to the ground?!"

Shen Qi sneered: "My lords, what do you want to impeach the lower officials? Do you follow the emperor's orders?"

"The emperor's order..." Jiao Yang changed his face in shock, "This is impossible! The emperor clearly accepted the group letter of advice from us, saying that this is what the people want, and asked me to wait here for the good news—"

"The book of remonstrance, is this what Old Jiao Ge said?" Shen Qi stretched out his hand, and a scroll of silk books fell from his fingers, hanging in the air, and the densely packed officials' names at the end of the text were clearly visible, "No, this is clearly an admission of guilt. Here, the signatures of each prisoner are on it. The subordinate officials will arrest one according to this list, one not too many, one not too few."

Seeing that the letter of remonstrance they submitted to the emperor for the deposed princes through Lanxi appeared in Shen Qi's hands, Jiao Yang and Wang Qianhe no longer wanted to believe it, and had to face this painful reality - the emperor abandoned them!

No, to be precise, it's not "abandoning", but "framing"!In the past year, the emperor's ambiguous gestures and words of explicit derogation and covert praise to them were not hints at all, but a carefully laid out bureau, the purpose of which was to trap the core officials of the "Yi Chu faction" and catch them all!

Jiao Yang's face was ashen, and he shouted: "I want to see the emperor! The way of heaven is above, and the law of etiquette exists in the world. How can you insult the minister in such a vain way? You need to argue clearly before the emperor!"

The other officials also clamored, all clamoring to face the saint.

There was even an outspoken person who shouted directly: "The sage said: 'How can there be a benevolent man in power who can do nothing for the people?' The emperor's behavior is clearly a 'disobedience'. I will not accept it!"

Shen Qi winked.Jin Yiwei, who was guarding the official, was immediately impressed, and slammed the hilt of the knife into the opponent's mouth so hard that his mouth bled, spit out several broken teeth, covered his mouth, bent over, and burst into tears.

"I didn't take off the official uniforms of the adults, I didn't put on handcuffs and shackles, and I didn't use cloth strips to restrain my mouth. I just wanted to save a little face for you. If you keep making noise, don't blame someone Shen for insulting Sven." Qi said sadly.

Disheveled, shackled, escorted from the Meridian Gate to Beizhen Fusi, how many people watched along the way, how is it different from criminals parading through the streets?At that time, don't talk about being gentle and sweeping the floor, you will lose all your face!

The officials shut their mouths angrily and helplessly, thinking that maybe the emperor just wanted to frighten them with Jin Yiwei, so he couldn't imprison nearly a hundred officials all at once, right?

After all, Emperor Jinglong has been known for his lenient, benevolent and peaceful treatment of his courtiers during his 17-year reign.

——It turned out that they were wrong.

The emperor seemed to have completely changed himself this time, from a wise ruler to a tyrant overnight, and there was only one sentence for them: "I'm not going my own way, but I'm going to throw myself into a trap!"

The 97 officials who jointly admonished Yi Chu, 79 people below the fourth rank were all sent to prison for interrogation, forcing them to confess to the crime of "attacking the prince and coercing the emperor to commit crimes". , Imposing the court stick in public.No less than ten people were killed immediately.

The rest of the officials above the fourth grade, including the two cabinet assistants, were all dismissed from their posts and suspended their salaries, and stayed at home.

The strength and speed of the punishment, like a bolt from the blue, shocked the entire court.

Not only the old friends, disciples, relatives and friends of these officials couldn't bear it, many people went to the emperor to ask for mercy.

Even the "orthodox faction" who supported the prince felt sad and thought it inappropriate to punish officials on such a large scale.

However, Emperor Jinglong showed unprecedented toughness, decisiveness in killing and attacking, allowing no doubts, and directly issued a decree:

All those who interceded for these 97 people were regarded as accomplices and sent to imperial prison, where they were locked in the same cell as the begged.

After the imperial decree, [-] to [-]% of the petitioners shut up.After all, even relatives and friends are not more important than your own future and life.

As for some extremely stubborn rescue officials who would rather die than "adhere to integrity and righteousness", they were not even sent to prison, and were directly deprived of their official positions.

"Du Men's resignation" was originally the most effective way for the courtiers to threaten the emperor-everyone resigns, no one is working, and see how the court works, your emperor will not be obedient and let us all stay?

Unexpectedly, Emperor Jinglong had already made a plan. With the dismissal order here, the replacement officials were brought up. It turned out that the candidates for the backup officials had already been secretly decided, and the political affairs were not delayed for a single day.

No matter which dynasty or generation, it is rare for people who do not want to be officials, and how few people want to be officials?

Those officials who just wanted to threaten to resign collectively were dumbfounded with the dismissal order.

He shot himself in the foot with a rock!But already at this point, can you still have the cheek to say "I don't quit, I don't quit, I still want to continue doing it"?Even if he shamelessly begged, would the emperor agree?

Knocking out teeth and swallowing blood can at least keep the reputation of "Zhengchen". If you go back and ask for an official, you will lose all face!In desperation and helplessness, they had to return their official seals and robes, and left the capital in despair.

This treatment lasted no more than three days.This is the biggest change in the court other than the "carrying the temple name" incident in this dynasty.

But different from the previous incidents, this time Emperor Jinglong did not rely on the queen mother, veterans or other external forces, but only relied on his own planning and sharpened "claws and teeth", which many people have not yet reacted to. At that time, lightning strikes, thunderbolts, and won an overwhelming victory.

Jiao Yang and Wang Qianhe, who were imprisoned at home, asked someone to secretly pass the news to the Queen Mother in a panic on the first day.

After hearing the news, the Empress Dowager was greatly astonished, and angrily drove to the imperial study to discuss the principles and etiquette with the emperor.

The emperor is not in the imperial study, the servant said, the emperor has gone to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Feng Jia went to the Hall of Mental Cultivation again, but the emperor was not there again.The servant said that the emperor was inspecting the rebuilt Kunning Palace after the fire.

With a livid face, the queen mother ordered the guards to go to Kunning Palace immediately to see if the emperor was there.After a long while, the guard replied, but he was not there again, saying that the emperor had inspected the Kunning Palace and found nothing wrong, so he went to the imperial horse to monitor Wu Xiang, Teng Xiang's left and right four armies.

After so many twists and turns, a day passed.

The next day, before the Empress Dowager got up, she ordered the guards to run across the palaces to stop the emperor.Unexpectedly, the emperor was not in the palace at all. It is said that because of a headache attack, he went out of the palace to seek medical treatment.

"He is avoiding me on purpose! My good son... my good son!" The Queen Mother gritted her silver teeth and shattered the jade case, but she couldn't take the emperor out of a corner where he was hiding. He has no right to directly issue an order to intervene in this case.After all, the king is still in power, and the harem is not allowed to interfere in politics. Even if the king's own mother wants to influence political affairs, she has to use devious means, and she must not show it on the surface.

The Empress Dowager was not willing to waste all her hard work on planning, so she summoned Shen Qi, hoping to start with this sharpest minion.

When the edict came to Fusi in Beizhen, Shen Qi, as the official of the palm seal hall, of course couldn't avoid seeing him, but he was more direct - not accepting the edict.

The reason is very simple, and it makes people vomit blood: "Although the minister is a guard, he is also a foreign minister, and he is young and strong. He was summoned by the Queen Mother without the holy order. There is mud on the ground, and I dare not let the Queen Mother wear dust on her feet."

——Yes, I am the royal eagle dog, but I am also a young and strong man. Without the emperor's permission, I was called to meet the queen mother. You widow who has been widowed for many years. If someone makes irresponsible remarks and damages the queen mother's chastity Reputation, or even just soiling the soles of the queen's shoes, is all my fault.

The servant brought back the original words covered in cold sweat, the Queen Mother's complexion seemed to be cracked for a few breaths, her face was blue and her lips were pale, she almost swooned over, and viciously swept the teapot and teacup to the ground: "Shen Qi, that doggy slave, how dare you do this? Humiliate me! Wow...this is a good dog from my son!"

The queen mother is angry, but what can be done?Could it be possible to send the bodyguards of the Compassionate Ning Palace to go to Beizhen Fusi, arrest Jin Yiwei and deal with them according to the palace rules?

If her son didn't agree with her, she could hardly move an inch in the previous dynasty. The queen mother finally realized this, and remembered with anger-she still has a son.

The King of Yu was summoned urgently by the Empress Dowager and rushed to the Palace of Compassion.

The queen mother immediately asked: "Are you brothers trying to piss me off? If so, I will hang myself in Fengtian Hall with a piece of white silk, so that you will be infamous forever for being disobedient and unfilial and forcing your biological mother to death." !"

King Yu knelt down in shock, hugged the queen mother's legs, and begged: "Mother, you must not! But if there is any inappropriateness in the words and actions of the ministers, even if the mother beats and scolds you, in any case, you can't commit suicide! Otherwise, the son All the ministers are to blame for death!"

Seeing her youngest son like this, the queen mother calmed down a little, and said, "Your elder brother made such a big commotion in the previous court that he punished more than a hundred officials at once, causing panic and complaints in the court. You know that. ?”

King Yu was at a loss: "What? There are other things like this, I really don't know..."

The queen mother said angrily: "You usually run to the palace every three days, either to come to me to be good-looking, or to quarrel with your elder brother. You also stand on duty at court meetings, and you also participate in political affairs. How can you be ignorant?"

King Yu shyly said: "Quiet mother, please calm down, and listen to my son's detailed explanation—didn't the mother always think that my son's heirs are too thin? But Erchen always doesn't take it seriously, thinking that having a son like Ah Ji is enough. Recently, Erchen has been thinking about it, and feels that what the empress mother said is very reasonable, so he plans to have more side concubines, to spread branches and leaves... These days, Erchen is only busy with this matter. Kongli will ignore those bullshit things in the hall."

…It’s true, of course. As for the truth, it’s still an excuse. The Empress Dowager can’t afford to ask King Yu to call all the women who are going to be selected to testify at this critical time. She can’t take care of it. .I had no choice but to scold with a sullen face: "That's a political affair of the court. What do you mean by 'shit and shit'? You look like this... like this... Alas, what did I do to give birth to one or two? Comfortable stuff!"

The king of Yu said indignantly: "Listen to what the queen mother means, is that the emperor angered you? The majestic king of a country, even disregarding filial piety, how can he be a model for his subjects? No, the sons and ministers want to question him on behalf of the queen! Mother, you wait , this son-in-law is going to vent his anger on behalf of the queen mother."

As he spoke, he suddenly got up, shook the dust marks on the hem of his robe, and strode out of the palace gate.

The Empress Dowager looked at the imposing back of her youngest son, opened her mouth, but did not stop him after all—she figured it out, whether King Yu knew it or not, he made it clear that he didn't want to care about this matter, Don't even want to touch it.

For a moment, the Empress Dowager felt the pain and sorrow of being betrayed by all relatives, and even for a moment she really wanted to commit suicide!

But the frustration only lasted for a short moment.Years of harem battles, ups and downs of life and death, have polished her heart enough to be tough.The emperor can avoid her for a while, but not forever, she can always find a chance to block people on the spot.

This opportunity finally arrived in a way that she did not expect on the fourth day of the "kneeling door case", after the outcome of the battle between the monarch and his ministers was decided.

——The empress dowager's phoenix guarded the palace road behind the next court, and personally blocked the emperor's dragon chariot.

The emperor had no choice but to salute respectfully, and then obeyed the queen mother's request and served her back to the Palace of Compassion.

In the Palace of Compassion and Ning, the Empress Dowager held back her anger, and started with the two elders who had been suspended, saying that the emperor's methods were almost inferior, which made the courtiers despise and chill.

Emperor Jinglong didn't change his face when he was scolded, and said lightly: "It is true that my response and handling of this matter were not open and aboveboard, but I should not take it for granted. I have given them many chances, and I hope they will come to repentance. It's a pity that they failed me, but it's not that I failed them."

The Empress Dowager said angrily: "Even if they acted a little more violently, it was out of concern for the country and the people. The emperor couldn't help but talk about the torture of the imperial court officials, the execution of the staff, and the demotion of their posts. Make the hearts of the subjects of the world submit?"

The emperor smiled: "The empress mother blamed my ministers with the word 'tyrannical and reckless', which is exactly the same as those courtiers who impeached the prince with the word 'tyrannical and reckless'. This made my ministers feel that it is quite unfair to appoint He Lin as the prince. The right choice, at least subclasses its parent."

The queen mother's face turned pale: "You, are you blaming the queen mother? Kai'er... Since childhood, you have been the most filial child who has been the most filial and the least worrying child to the queen mother. So disrespectful..."

Seeing her choking with tears, Emperor Jing Long frowned and sighed, and knelt down to plead guilty: "My son made a slip of the tongue, please calm down, mother."

The Empress Dowager didn't let him get up, and her tone was a bit more serious: "Even the emperor can't ignore the righteous heart and go his own way..."

In the sound of admonishment, Emperor Jing Long's fingers gripping the corner of his robe became tighter and tighter, cold sweat oozed from his forehead, his face gradually turned blue, and he reluctantly said: "Mother, my son is not feeling well, let me take my leave first, after a short rest Say hello again."

The queen mother was interrupted by him, and she laughed angrily: "You still want to play the trick of 'avoiding to see'? The palace is big or small, you are my own son, and I am your own mother, can you avoid it?" When will I arrive?"

"It's not an excuse to avoid it, it's just a sudden feeling of discomfort..."

"I think you were fine a moment ago, why did you feel 'suddenly unwell' when I spoke? Okay, since you don't want to see your mother, and you don't even want to listen to a word, then I'll take off my clothes and hairpin, and leave the palace in plain clothes. , Since I went to Baiyi Nunnery to practice, I am not here to obstruct your eyes!"

The queen mother got up angrily, and the emperor grabbed her by the sleeve: "Mother...mother, the son is really—"

The second half of the sentence came to an abrupt end, and the emperor leaned forward and put his head on the empress dowager's waist.

The Empress Dowager felt that something was wrong, she hurriedly held up the emperor's face, and saw that his face was completely discolored, like only the temples, brows and eyelashes were painted with ink on a white paper, his eyes were closed tightly, he seemed to have lost his mind, and suddenly panicked.

"Emperor! Emperor!" She exclaimed in surprise, and unconsciously knelt down on the ground, holding her son's upper body in her arms, "Come on! Come on—"

The palace people guarding the gate of the palace ran in immediately, and Lan Xi ran the fastest.

When the queen mother saw him, she panicked and said, "The emperor suddenly fainted, please send it to the imperial physician, hurry up!"

Lan Xi's expression also changed, and she immediately ordered the servants behind her: "Quickly, call all the imperial physicians in the Imperial Hospital! Also, go to Deyi Pavilion and call Chen Shiyu over!"

"Chen Shiyu? I remember that he is a surgeon. Why did you ask him to come here? The emperor is already in a coma, why don't you ask him to prescribe medicinal baths?!" The queen mother said angrily.

In the past year, the emperor's headaches have become more and more frequent, but he has never been in such a sudden coma. At this moment, Lan Xi is also in a state of confusion, and has no choice but to tell the truth to the queen mother: "The emperor has always refused to call the imperial doctor. It was Dr. Chen Shiyu who came to diagnose and treat his headache..."

"Why did you let a private surgeon come to treat the emperor!" The queen mother sternly said, "It's the emperor's business that the emperor doesn't like to use the imperial doctor. Don't you have a lot of slaves who don't try to persuade you and never come to tell me?! "

Lan Xi knelt down and pleaded guilty: "The empress dowager forgives the sin. It is true that the emperor has issued a strict order not to allow slaves to talk too much, and slaves dare not disobey orders! Besides, Dr. Chen Shiyu has won the trust of the emperor, and his medical skills are superb..."

"Gao Ming? Why did Gao Ming make people faint?"

The Empress Dowager was asking the question, when she felt the emperor twitch slightly in her arms, as if disturbed, she quickly lowered her voice, gritted her teeth and said, "Put the emperor on the couch and lie down!"

The palace people rushed forward and carefully placed the emperor on the soft couch.

No matter how anxious the mother is, she can only wait patiently for the doctor who treats the disease.

Not long after, the imperial physicians arrived panting.

Doctor Chen Shiyu was old and couldn't run fast, so the guards who went to summon him directly carried him on their backs, and ran all the way to the Palace of Compassion and Ning, where they fought with the imperial doctors.

The queen mother didn't say much, she asked the imperial physicians to consult, and called Chen Shiyu to the side for questioning.

Chen Shiyu was ordered to conceal it, but now that the emperor is unconscious in front of the queen mother, there is no point in concealing it, so he reported the various new symptoms, changes in the emperor's condition, his own judgment of the cause of the disease, and various conservative treatments in the past two years. The methods, the radical treatment methods that were conceived but dared not to be used...tell the whole story.

The Queen Mother knew that her eldest son suffered from headaches all year round, but it was only caused by overthinking, and she didn't want it to be so serious. After listening to it all the way, from shock, to pain, to horror, and then to being as stiff as a dead tree, she couldn't say a single thing. Character.

Chen Shiyu knelt down and begged, "Let the old man make another diagnosis for the emperor."

The queen mother raised her hand like a ghost, as if agreeing.

Chen Shiyu pushed aside the imperial physicians, looked at the breath, felt the pulse, called the acupoints with golden needles, and after a series of operations, the emperor finally woke up leisurely.

The empress dowager burst into tears, rushed to the side of the bed, held the emperor's hand, sobbed uncontrollably, but could not speak.

The emperor said weakly: "Mother, don't argue..."

"Okay, don't argue, don't argue, do whatever you say, the queen mother will listen to you..."

"The crown prince... called him back... the imperial edict, and Lan Xi drafted it on his behalf..."

"Okay, call him back, Lan Xi, go draw up the imperial edict, and bring it here!"

After Lan Xi kowtowed, she hurried out of the hall.

"Mother, my son is really tired..."

The Empress Dowager put her arm behind the emperor's neck, leaned his head against her chest, lowered her head and kissed his bun, and said with tears, "I'm not tired. My son Yuji is only a dozen years old. Why are you tired... Let the imperial doctor, And Dr. Chen will prescribe medicine, acupuncture, moxibustion for you...as long as it works, you will get better soon..."

The emperor lay motionless on his mother's arm, his eyes slightly closed, as if immersed in this long-lost maternal love.

Lan Xi approached quickly holding the newly drafted imperial edict.

The emperor whispered: "Read."

Although it was formed hastily, Lan Xi has been in the Lijian Supervisor for many years, and he is quite handy in drafting the edict, so there is nothing wrong with the edict.

The emperor said: "Use the seal and send it out immediately."

The queen mother choked and shook his hand: "Stop worrying too much, have a good rest... Imperial doctor, hurry up and prescribe medicine! Doctor Chen, if you can wake up the emperor, you will be able to cure him!"

Chen Shiyu said: "This old man will do his best."

"In addition, publish a list to announce to the world, and recruit famous doctors—"

"No need," the emperor shook the queen mother's hand weakly, "the doctor Chen in front of the queen mother is a famous doctor. Let him treat my illness."

Seeing that he was resolute, the queen mother stopped refuting in person, and only said: "Don't bother, rest first."

The imperial physicians discussed for a long time before finalizing the prescription and presenting it to the Queen Mother.The Empress Dowager did not understand the technique of Qihuang, so she showed it to Chen Shiyu and asked, "How?"

After reading it, Chen Shiyu thought about it and answered: "All medicines are good medicines, and the prescriptions are also warming and tonic prescriptions, but there is no harm in taking them."

"But it's okay to take it" means that it's okay to eat, but it won't solve the problem.

The queen mother said desperately: "Does it have to... have a craniotomy? No, it's too risky and absurd!"

Chen Shiyu said: "I will never use this method! In history, there has never been a successful case of craniotomy. The legend of Hua's miracle doctor is a legend after all. I can't afford a life, let alone the ninth five. Life! Even if you copy your family and exterminate your family, you can't follow!"

The Empress Dowager knew in her heart that if taking the medicine was really useful, so many famous doctors inside and outside the palace would have cured the emperor in the past few years, why did they all look helpless until today!

In her life, she has loved, hated, been jealous, fought, hurt and killed people, but never like this time, the chills and fear all over her body trembled from the cracks in her bones.

The emperor took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "I... want to sleep for a while."

The queen mother hurriedly said: "Go to sleep, mother will watch over you."

"Accept the bed, I want to go back to the Hall of Mental Cultivation."

The queen mother felt embarrassed.Fortunately, the Hall of Mental Cultivation is near the Palace of Compassion and Peace. After she consulted with the imperial physician, she asked the palace staff to carry the soft couch and move over there smoothly.

After receiving Chen Shiyu's acupuncture and drinking the medicine prescribed by the imperial physician, the emperor lay quietly on the dragon bed, as if he was fast asleep.

The Empress Dowager sat on the edge of the bed, weeping secretly for a while, and then got up and went back under the persuasion of the palace people, and repeatedly asked Lan Xi: "The emperor is awake, and report in time. If there is any change, report in time."

Lan Xi promised again and again, and the queen mother walked away without turning her head.

Lan Xi sent her out of the palace gate, turned back to the palace, and tiptoed to the bedside, trying to put down the debt for the emperor.

The emperor suddenly opened his eyes and looked at him: "Has the imperial edict been issued?"

Lan Xi was taken aback, and then showed a relieved expression: "Go back to the emperor, I sent it... But why not use the one that the emperor prepared in advance?"

"The imperial edict issued under such circumstances can avoid being intercepted by the empress halfway."

Lan Xi laughed and said: "It turns out that the emperor was just pretending, but he scared the slaves to death! Not to mention, this trick really works, the queen mother still loves the emperor—"

"Lanxi—" the emperor suddenly interrupted him.

"The servant is here!"

The emperor was silent for just a few seconds, with some fine lines between his brows, and said slowly and calmly: "I'm afraid I can't hold it this time... You go and tell Chen Shiyu that no matter what tiger or wolf medicine you use, you must Let me hold on until He Lin comes back."

Lan Xi was startled, the strength in his hand lost its measure, the tent hook and hanging rope were torn off, and fell to the ground with a "ding", and the emerald jade shattered.

"...Your Majesty!" He called out in pain, tears that had been accumulated for a long time poured out of his eyes.