Yang Tinghe's meaning is very clear. The purpose of your visit is not to cure the disease, but to bring the emperor back to the capital as soon as possible.
Whether you tell the truth about the condition or threaten him, as long as the emperor can return to Beijing, the goal will be achieved, and the rest is up to you to perform freely.
Xue Ji had not been in the palace for a long time. He was good at treating people's illnesses, but not good at dealing with people. However, Wu Jie was scheming and knew everything well.
Wu Jie said: "I will persuade your Majesty to return to Beijing as soon as possible."
"Um."
Yang Tinghe nodded, "You must know that our Ming Dynasty must not fall into the hands of others. Someone wants to hold the emperor hostage... If His Majesty is not cured and is taken to the Nine Borders, and the soldiers and horses from the borders are used to counterattack the capital, I'm afraid
There will be great trouble."
At this point, Xue Ji finally understood.
Are you going to treat the emperor?
It sounded more like a special mission to bring the emperor back to the capital, and they were not targeting the emperor himself, but Jiang Bin, who had great power around the emperor.
As the adopted son of the emperor, Jiang Bin did not have the blood of the old Zhu family when Zhu Houzhao's condition changed, but now he has the imperial surname anyway. What's even more terrible is that Jiang Bin controls the emperor's personal guards and the northwest border.
If Jiang Bin took Zhu Houzhao to the border areas such as Xuanfu and reached his own territory, then the emperor would become a bargaining chip in Jiang Bin's hands, and the world would probably fall into chaos.
Xue Jidao: "Master Zhongtang, the matter won't become so serious, right?"
Yang Tinghe glared at Xue Ji. Although he admired Xue Ji very much and even thought about cultivating Xue Ji as an envoy, it was obvious that he was not satisfied with Xue Ji's political consciousness.
"Since ancient times, when powerful ministers are in power, have there been few things that cause harm to the country and the people? Do you have to wait for something to happen and realize that it will bring disaster to the world and make the people miserable, before you wake up?"
Yang Tinghe said sharply.
The implication is that you now think that Jiang Bin is not capable, but in history, among those traitorous ministers who usurped the throne or caused the world to turn from prosperity to decline and into chaos, such as Wang Mang, An Lushan and others, how many of them showed their behavior beforehand?
Officials want to nip problems in the bud instead of regretting them after they happen.
Wu Jie also said: "Ping Lupo is a man of arbitrary power, deceives the Holy Spirit, causes chaos in the court, and even encourages the Holy Spirit to go to the south to patrol, making the people of the world miserable... It is our duty to persuade His Majesty to return to the court."
This trip was not to cure a disease, but to give advice as a doctor.
Xue Ji felt that he might have said something unkind, which made Yang Tinghe feel grudge against him and did not dare to speak any more.
"Remember, no matter what happens, your Majesty's return to the court will be your priority. Do not obey others' orders, otherwise you will be the sinners of our Ming Dynasty... I will stay in the capital and wait for the good news of you two to come."
Yang Tinghe asked Xue Ji and Wu Jie to bring the emperor back to the capital at all costs. If his condition improved on the way... then let him suddenly deteriorate. In short, the real purpose of going south was to facilitate the emperor's return to the court.
Cure?
Treat your hair!
…
…
Xue Ji and Wu Jie left the capital with people from Taiyuan Hospital in a very low-key manner, so that outsiders did not know the inside story.
But as Su Xigui returned to Beijing, he used his keen sense of smell to find out the news from nowhere, so he came to see Zhu Hao early and explained the matter.
"...Mr. Xue and Dr. Wu were famous all over the imperial capital. When nobles in the palace fell ill, they would diagnose and treat them, and they would recover after just a few doses of medicine. It was difficult for outsiders to seek treatment from their disciples, let alone themselves. These two men suddenly led a team south.
, I’m afraid His Majesty is suffering from a serious illness.”
When Su Xigui said this, his eyes lit up.
Although Zhu Hao did not tell him clearly that the emperor's death was not far away and the new emperor was about to ascend the throne. After all, no matter how close the two were, Su Xigui was still vaguely aware of this trend. Zhu Hao usually gave
There are quite a few hints.
Zhu Hao said: "Is it possible that someone close to your Majesty is infected with a serious disease?"
Su Xigui smiled and said: "Master Zhu, please don't show off... If you hadn't asked me to pay attention, I would not have taken the trouble to investigate. In fact, His Majesty has been ill for a long time. He occasionally vomited blood at the beginning of the year. If everything goes as usual, Your Majesty will
During this month of marching north, we won’t just focus on the march of the army without any other abnormal behavior.”
Su Xigui is a person who is good at observing and summarizing.
During Zhu Houzhao's southern tour, and until the first month of his journey to the north, he was always misbehaving. His soldiers and horses harassed and looted, doing all kinds of evil, just like bandits crossing the border.
But recently the emperor has been unusually low-key, and no longer disturbs the people wherever he goes. Even the opera troupes around the emperor have ceased their activities. Now even the imperial doctors are being transferred from the capital to the army. This can only be explained as the emperor is ill, and
The condition cannot be solved by the military doctors, so two medical experts from the capital can only be mobilized to provide support.
Recalling that Zhu Hao had hinted to him before that there might be a change in the sky, Su Xigui would inevitably think, if this is not a sign of a change in the sky, then what is?
Zhu Hao asked: "Dongzhu Su hasn't found out the real situation around His Majesty recently?"
"It's hard to find out."
Su Xigui shook his head and said, "The people around the emperor have changed several times. In the past, outsiders could see him, but now even some of his ministers, such as favored eunuchs and actors, cannot see him. There are even rumors from people around him.
...Ahem, it’s said that something big happened to the Holy One!
"Right now, all the news seems to be shrouded in a layer of mist, making it difficult to fathom. We may have to wait until His Majesty returns to Beijing before everything can be finalized."
As he spoke, Su Xigui looked at Zhu Hao eagerly, as if to say, he seems to be better informed than me.
You don't know what's going on?
Zhu Hao was basically relieved after hearing this.
Regardless of whether Zhu Houzhao fell into the water, or whether his condition really arose from falling into the water, at least his health was not as good as before. Although Jiang Bin and others around the emperor were closely blocking the news, it was obvious that the changes in the emperor's body could not be hidden from the palace, and the Empress Dowager Zhang was very attached to the civil servants.
Trust, this was influenced by her husband, Emperor Xiaozong, who felt that all civil servants could be trusted.
Little did they know that the civil servants were now very different from those in Xiaozong's time. When the civil servants were squeezed out by the sycophants, they thought of forming alliances to protect themselves, and unconsciously formed a huge interest group. This interest group looked down upon the emperor's stupidity and ignorance.
Once the critical moment comes, the civil service group will no longer be Zhu Houzhao's strong backing, and may very well become his talisman.
Who can guarantee that the death of Zhu Houzhao in history has nothing to do with the civil service group?
The tradition of the Ming Emperor's untimely death has been passed down throughout the dynasty. The civil servant group is connected with the Imperial Palace Hospital. Who can guarantee that there is nothing fishy in it?
"Dongzhu Su is returning to Beijing this time to stay there permanently, or..."
Zhu Hao stopped talking about the emperor and asked Su Xigui about his itinerary.
Su Xigui was very sensible, so he didn't mention it if Zhu Hao didn't mention it. He smiled and said: "Su didn't spend much money on Nanjing's money and food arrangements. The main reason is that Mr. Huang had just been transferred to Nanjing and his official chair had not yet been secured, so His Majesty returned to the court.
Now there are some aftermath matters that need to be dealt with. After all, Nanfu's treasury is too short.
"I am going north this time to do some salt transfer with the Ministry of Revenue... The coastal salt fields will produce more salt in the coming year, thanks to the transformation of the salt fields after Huang Gong became the minister of the Ministry of Revenue in the past few years. Of course, everything is
Thanks to Mr. Zhu's credit, if there is enough salt, then more salt is needed to dilute the share of salt that was previously stolen by nobles. In this way, the people can eat affordable salt, and the court's money and grain allocation will be smoother.
There won’t be so much pressure on the library.”
Su Xigui was very pleased.
After all, the imperial court cannot make its own silver and grain. This is different from issuing banknotes. Under the silver standard system, even the imperial court was worried about the source of silver coins. In the past, it also issued banknotes such as Ming Dynasty Baobao to dilute private wealth, but people in the world did not eat it.
In that case, by the end of Zhengde's reign, Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes basically had no credibility and were difficult to circulate.
What can change this situation must be a kind of hard currency for the whole society, and that is salt.
Thanks to the salt-drying method contributed by Zhu Hao and Huang Zan, who has stepped up the renovation of salt-drying salt flats in coastal salt fields in recent years after becoming the minister of household affairs, in the first few years, all salt fields used both fried salt and sun-dried salt. Now,
The production of salt was basically based on sun-dried salt, and the output and quality of the salt fields were significantly improved. The salt stolen by the nobles, especially the Zhang family and the Zhou family, were diluted by the huge amount of salt production, which led to the improvement of the Ming Dynasty's finances step by step.
Even though the emperor's southern tour cost a lot of money, Su Xigui, an official with a background as a big salt merchant, was able to use his own operations to return the huge revenue from the salt tax to the court.
Behind the scenes was Huang Zan, and in front of him was Su Xigui, a high-ranking official and businessman who traveled around the country, always going to his own disadvantage.
Zhu Hao smiled and said: "Dongzhu Su hasn't said yet how long he plans to stay when he returns to Beijing!"
Su Xigui said: "I'm not leaving for the time being! Haha, Nanjing won't need me for a while. The focus of business in the past few years has been in the capital. Maybe Huang Gong will return to the capital as an official again. I'm still here.
Just wait here."
Having said this, Su Xigui's face was full of pride.
They all felt that Huang Zan had made a wrong choice by taking the initiative to be transferred from Beijing to serve as the Minister of the Southern Hubu Department. As a result, Huang Zan went and solved the problem of lack of money and food in the Southern Hubu Department and let the people in the court
Watch with admiration.
Then Emperor Zhengde became seriously ill, and the situation in the court was likely to change. Su Xigui made arrangements early and had a close relationship with Prince Xing's Mansion...
If everything goes well, perhaps Huang Zan will be able to return to the capital next year without having to wait two or three years in Jiangnan. At that time, he will no longer be a minister, but directly become a minister.
"Then when I have time, I will get together with Dongzhu Su more."
Zhu Hao smiled.
At this time, everyone in Prince Xing's Mansion had evacuated the capital, and he lacked a person who could understand both black and white. God sent Su Xigui to him at the critical moment.
What's rare is that Su Xigui also obeys his advice. Su Xigui's intelligence network and official connections may be more advantageous than those of Prince Xing's palace, which gives Zhu Hao another powerful helper.
"Little Master, this time I bought another batch of actors from Jiangnan... Don't glare, I'm not asking you to help cultivate them, I'm... I want to give them to the Little Master. Thanks to the Little Master's advice and efforts over the years, I
There is nothing to repay here, this group of people originally wanted to be sent to the palace, but now it seems that they may not be needed... I hope you will accept them, little master."
As he spoke, he handed over a stack of deeds of betrayal.
Zhu Hao smiled and shook his head: "If you can't afford it, you can't afford it. Just stay in the theater and perform and make money for Dongzhu Su."